This day has meant so much to me, after spending years committed to participating in the global V-Day movement to end violence against women and girls. You can roll your eyes at me for stomping on your love fest, I could care less. I'm going to be the one on your timeline unapologetically reminding you that "love" has not always been safe for some of us. I once had to call the cops on an ex who, after I had locked myself in my car for protection, stood outside my window threatening me with a knife. It was not the first time, nor was it the last. Sometimes "love" is the very thing we feared would steal our lives from us, and in the very least, I feel it robbed me of years of my innocence, years that I should have embraced growing into a young woman, learning what it means to care for a significant other, as well as learning my own self worth. I know for a fact that I am not alone. I have surrounded myself with communities of survivors- both women and men, who have shared stories with me, some of which are strikingly parallel to my own. Our support for each other is how we survive. It is how we heal. So on this holiday, that every year seems to stir up all of those scarring memories for me, I desperately feel the need to say to anyone who reads this and says to themselves "I feel this": I hear you. I support you. I believe you. You are not alone. It is not your fault. We are not only surviving, we are fucking RISING above all of the abuse that once controlled and tormented our own thoughts, our own bodies. We are learning that LOVE IS RESPECT. To those sharing the love you have for your partner, family, friends, or even yourself, today- thank you. It is so nice to have a reminder of what love should look like. I love you all. #vday #onebillionrising #loveisrespect #enddomesticandsexualviolence #survivor #eliminategirlhate
