J
ust last week, senior
Aliya Govindraj was
shopping in a local
grocery store when
she noticed an older man trail-
ing close behind, following
her through the aisles. He
approached her and started
talking to her, despite her vis-
ible discomfort. She fended
him off without problem, but
not all women are as lucky.
“I have friends who have
experienced the more extreme
end of things, like almost being
sexually trafficked or even be-
ing assaulted,” said Govindraj,
who has been vocal about sex-
ual harassment on social media.
“While most people I know ha-
ven’t gone through that, we’ve
all been followed, cat-called
and had inappropriate com-
ments made about our bodies.”
For many women, sex-ual harassment is an ev-
er-looming threat, some-
thing to constantly be alert
to and always prepared for.
“What most men don’t seemto understand is that sexual ha-
rassment isn’t this one instance
that happens to us every once
in a while,” she said. “It impacts
every single aspect of our lives.”
Based on newly releasedstatistics, Govindraj’s ex-
perience is not unusual.
The United Nations En-
tity for Gender Equality and
the Empowerment of Wom-en (UN Women) published
a study last month reporting
that 97 percent of women aged
18 to 24 in the United King-
dom have experienced sexu-
al harassment in some form.
UN Women defined sexu-
al harassment as “unwelcome
sexual conduct,” but acknowl-
edged that a universal defi-
nition for sexual harassment
doesn’t exist. The organiza-
tion said that most definitions
refer to the subjective experi-
ence of the individual, where
they were made to feel unsafe,
humiliated or intimidated.
In the wake of the #Me-
Too movement, the study(^9797) PERCENT PERCENT OF WOMEN AGED OF WOMEN AGED
1818 TO TO^2424 IN THE UNITED KINGDOM IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
HAVE EXPERIENCED SEXUAL HAVE EXPERIENCED SEXUAL
HARASSMENT IN SOME FORM.HARASSMENT IN SOME FORM.
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Graphic by Maya Millner