Earlier this week, model Gigi Hadid was assaulted by a infamous 'prankster' who thought it was funny to grab her inappropriately as she was leaving a fashion show. This creep ran up behind her, stuck one arm around her waist and another in between her legs. He proceeded to lift her up in a crowded street as bystanders did nothing, forcing Gigi to defend herself. She immediately elbowed him in the face repeatedly before he finally released her and ran away. Videos of this assault were quickly spread on social media with women commending Gigi for defending herself against the creep, but gossip sites and trashy news outlets reported on the video with disgusting headlines.

Her defending herself against a random dude grabbing her on the street is twisted into her "aggressively lashing out" and not displaying "model behavior." The blatant sexist and misogynistic tone of all these headlines shifts the blame to the victim rather than the attacker. The words describing the man as a 'fan' and 'prankster' and the victim as 'aggressive' and 'overreacting' perpetuates the violation of boundaries between men and women, and even celebrities and the public. Gigi being a public figure does not mean she welcomes unwarranted physical contact with anyone that encounters her, and just because this man has made a career out of assaulting celebrities and labeling it 'pranks' does not make it okay. She is not the aggressor in this situation, she is not overreacting and she should not have to go on twitter to defend herself even further. Woman are not your property to grope in the middle of the street. Them not being accepting of your violations is not them being dramatic. Anytime a women is grabbed without her consent she has every right to elbow that creep in the jaw.

Women are not your property.