So, consent. What is that, people might ask? What is the thin line between consent and respect?

If you have to ask that question, there is no doubt to know that you are one of those who is skeptical or believes that saying "no" is dangerous. I am here to tell you that, "No, it isn't."

One in five girls is a victim of sexual assault, and when compared to boys, it can be a frightening factor indeed. Only 1 in 20 boys is a victim of sexual assault. It can be seen that from this pair of statistics, girls are the weaker gender and, thus, cannot fight back.

But why can't they? Why do they paint a clear image in their minds that saying no is so dangerous? Is it the influence of alcohol in their systems? Is it the doubt running through their brains that the only way to be good is to please the other – often their perpetrator, often their boyfriend, often their husband? But what exactly do they get out of it?

Do they get satisfaction after being sexually victimized? Do they realize what they had just gone through in their lives? Do they understand they can't go back to who they were before, that even though it isn't a physical mark to bear, it is something so mentally traumatizing that they can't really forget about?

This is why I am reaching out to you all. To say that all of you are worth something. That saying no is always an answer. That shaking your head and screaming out the word "no" is an inner voice which all of you would have to exercise out.

Even if it is the worst of situations, that you have your own back pressed tightly against the wall, that all your willingness is suppressed up to the point when you can't breathe, recognize that you are still yourself, that you are still strong enough to speak again.

You are worth it. You will always be worth it.

Of course, I understand that there are those cases in which you cannot physically overpower your perpetrator; either you are physically incapable, you are way too deeply stuck in the situation to get away, or you love the person way too much that you would do this for them.

But that is never the answer. Love shouldn't define your choices, not in this sort of situation where you feel your choices get stripped away from you. Life shouldn't be like this, where you live day by day pleasing someone else. In fact, the life you are given is your own.

So, even though if you feel like you're going to give up, just remember that you are special. That a guy cannot influence your decisions because, in the end, they don't matter.

You do, and your rights will always overpower theirs.