The more I see stories of women being harassed in any setting imaginable, the more hopelessness I feel knowing society is not working to fix the problem.

There are stories of women leaving their abusive spouses and getting killed, stories of women going on jogs and rejecting a man and being killed, and stories of strangers grabbing their bodies without permission while they walk to work. All these stories have one thing in common: the fact that rape culture is a combination of practices that have been normalized and inflicted by people who feel the need for power and control. Men get assaulted too, and that is an issue that needs to be discussed, but I am writing this on the only perspective I know - as a woman.

I have been molested, cat-called, and have had my space as a woman belittled. There are moments, such as walking to my car at night, when I hold my keys in my hand out of fear that I would be kidnapped or assaulted. I have felt obliged at times to keep myself small in order to not be harassed by men or make them angry by me rejecting them. It's becoming so normalized that you hear people say they didn't know they were assaulted until they looked back and examined the situation.

But now, women are being more transparent, and it has become such an empowering movement because women are finally feeling that the experiences they go through should not be normalized. Assault tends to take a back seat to rape in some situations, but there should be an understanding that any assault is bad - whether you were just cat-called or raped. You should never compare your experiences to others and feel that they have less value or damaging effects.

Almost every one of the females in my life has countless stories of being violated in some way. I always wonder if it's a discussion that men have, but I know for a fact that they don't have that constant fear over their heads. I have asked men if they understand what women have to go through in terms of assault and most of them say that they don't have to worry about that. The statistics are clear. As stated by RAINN, every 98 seconds an American is sexually assaulted. The majority of sexual assault victims are women.

I'm not writing this in a cry that women should fear men and always be on edge about violence, but rather bring awareness that it is more common than people think. The only way to change this is to start a discussion and start educating individuals on how to change their mentality of rape culture and be an ally for victims.

The language should change from blaming women and explaining ways that women should be cautious, to why men shouldn't harass and assault. There is hope that one day, the fight for our voices to be heard will be legitimized.