December 12th 2024.
From a young age, we’re taught to shrink ourselves, to be careful, to not provoke men. And when we suffer at the hands of men, we’re told to keep quiet, to not make a fuss, to not ruin their lives.
But what about our lives? What about the impact of their actions on us?
That’s why on November 25, 2024, Metro launched This Is Not Right – a year-long campaign to address the relentless epidemic of violence against women.
We are committed to bringing you stories that highlight the sheer scale of this issue, in partnership with Women's Aid. We want to engage and empower our readers to take action against violence towards women.
If you have a story to share, we want to hear it. You can email us at [email] and be a part of this movement for change.
But we cannot do this alone. Men, we need your help too. We need you to stand with us and use your voices to end violence against women.
Because the reality is, this violence is not just physical – it takes many forms, including online abuse. And it disproportionately affects women.
I know this all too well, as I have personally experienced the horror of image-based abuse. Someone I knew used my social media photos to create fake images and videos of me in sexual situations. As a woman, my body was seen as a tool for someone else's pleasure, without any regard for my feelings or consent.
This is just one example of the widespread disrespect and entitlement towards women that exists in our society. And it needs to stop.
That's why we are proud to support End Violence Against Women – a coalition of feminist organizations and experts working to end violence against women in the UK. Through campaigning, policy shaping, and challenging cultural attitudes, EVAW is driving social change and fighting against the normalization of abuse.
We encourage you to learn more about their work and join us in standing against violence towards women. Together, we can make a difference and create a safer and more equal world for all.
When I was just 15 years old, I experienced a trauma that would haunt me for the rest of my life - I was raped. The shame and trauma I felt were unbearable, and it took months for me to even begin to cope with what had happened to me. But when I finally gathered the courage to confide in my teacher, I was met with disbelief and dismissal. "But he's such a nice boy," they said. "He would never do that." This reaction only added to my pain and made me question my worth and my right to be heard.
Eventually, I made the brave decision to report the assault to the authorities. However, the advice I received was disheartening - I was told to not ruin my life by going through the criminal justice system. It seemed that the suffering of women was not enough to warrant the discomfort of men. This realization has eaten away at me ever since, causing me to question my worth and the validity of my pain.
But this was not the end of my suffering. Years later, I was faced with yet another form of betrayal - anonymous online attacks, impersonations, and the solicitation of sexual activities using my name and images from my social media profiles. When I turned to the police for help, I was once again met with a dismissive response. This only pushed me further into silence and isolation, a process that is all too familiar for victims of violence against women.
In 2021, my nightmare escalated when I received an anonymous email containing a link to an alternative porn website. To my horror, I discovered doctored images and videos with my face on other people's bodies - deepfakes that had been created to look like I was having sex with strangers. Someone had taken innocent images from my social media and used them to generate fake, explicit content of me. And to make matters worse, the man behind this abuse turned out to be someone I knew.
I felt the deepest sense of betrayal imaginable. To him, my suffering was just a momentary thrill, a compulsion, something to indulge in and discard. To me, it was yet another reminder that to men, I was just an object.
This is why Metro has launched our year-long campaign, This Is Not Right, to address the relentless epidemic of violence against women. We will be sharing stories that shed light on the sheer scale of this issue and partnering with organizations like Women's Aid to engage and empower our readers. We want to challenge the cultural attitudes that normalize abuse and drive social change.
Image-based abuse, like deepfakes, disproportionately affects women. And it is a symptom of the disrespect and entitlement that women face every day. From catcalling to rape jokes to groping in clubs, we are conditioned to brush off these behaviors. But enough is enough. We must stand together to end violence against women. Join us in this fight and help us create a safer and more equal world for all women.
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