Dear Editor,

If I were to poison one glass of water out of six, mixed them up, and hand you one, would you drink it?

You’re most likely going to say no, you don’t get anything out of drinking it or not drinking it, so why play a game with your life? But it’s not every glass of water right? So why not drink it, take the chance, you never know what could happen. You’ll sit there and tell me no! Just like every girl has. Just like every woman who has pleaded for their life has! But it’s not every guy, just like it’s not every glass of water. You’re not going to take the chance with the water, so why should she take the chance with him? Guys will sit here and tell a girl that it’s not every guy but won’t even take the chance to understand why it is. One person can ruin a life, just like that one glass of water could end yours. So don’t tell me it’s not every guy without telling me you’d drink the water, because you will never understand why to a girl, it is every guy. 

As of now, one out of every six women are faced with a form of sexual assault in the US. Nine out of every 10 victims are female compared to male. I’m not writing this to disregard male victims, I’m simply writing this because there is an abundant amount of female victims compared to men. Most guys will sit here and talk down to women for saying “All men are the same,” and will get upset when women say that not “all girls are the same.” There’s a significant difference, not “all girls are the same” because dating and /or cheating is nowhere near as extreme as sexual assault. Obviously it will hurt and it will suck, but you can move on and grow from that. Women suffer from deep trauma relating to situations like this, yes they can grow and heal from it, but it’s definitely not as likely. I can’t change everyone’s opinions, but I at least hope reading this has allowed you to think about it or try and understand it just a little bit more.

Elaina Petta