Social media of any type has become a cesspool of unwanted sexual attention and aggression. As a female entrepreneur in America, my entire marketing platform is based around my ability to promote myself and my work on social media.

              We are all familiar with the “cull and cut” immediacy of how quickly we get banned on a platform like Facebook for any comment or post that sets off their “this is violent/this is bullying/this is self-harm advocacy” algorithms, and without hesitation, our profiles are immediately limited.

              HOWEVER, as a single woman on social media, I am subjected DAILY to inappropriate comments on my posts, no matter how benign or professional I design them to be. If my physical body or face is visible in a post showcasing my artwork, I am subjected to comments focusing solely on my physical appearance, my availability for a physical relationship, and other unwanted and unnecessary discussion. These comments are posted without consequence, and it is left up to me to deal with them.

              I am a survivor of sexual abuse and assault. This dynamic has been a part of my personal narrative since I was a very young child, and it has been a prevalent dynamic in my adulthood. I am now 41 years old, and my most recent sexual assault was 18 months ago. My most recent threat of physical and emotional violence from a man was less than a month ago, resulting in a petition for an order of protection. As a woman, I have done everything within my realm of power and experience to integrate these traumas into my life and remain viable and functional as a contributor to our society. I am a testament to the ability to function independently and be discharged with completion and doctors’ permission from the cycle of chronic mental health treatment, even though I am diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder and co-morbid diagnoses that are a direct result of that environmentally created social experience. I am legally disabled because of the severity of impact my diagnosis had on my adulthood when I first began my journey of mental health recovery.

I am an entrepreneur and businesswoman now, 8 years into full recovery and medically sanctioned discharge from treatment. I am a college graduate, a published author, a recognized voice for social advocacy, and an accomplished and established artist. I am a member of many stigmatized minorities:

1.       The LGBTQ Community

2.       The Survivors of Domestic Violence

3.       The Survivors of Sexual Abuse and Sexual Assault

4.       A Survivor of Suicide and Mental Illness

5.       A Woman Living With HIV (That was the direct and permanent consequence of my last sexual assault.)

6.       A woman.

Ways that I have had to change my daily life include:

1.       Training my dogs to act as security dogs and personal bodyguards.

2.       Never leaving my house without my dogs and personal protective defense equipment on me.

3.       Not meeting any people in private. Business meetings. Interviews. Contract negotiations. And personal, non-business encounters.

4.       Not allowing people into my home.

5.       Moderating my social media and choosing to not post certain things simply because of the potential for unwanted attention, or, in choosing to post things, getting punished for speaking my boundaries clearly and concisely in terms that the predators understand. Violence begets violence, and we, in our truths, meet such energy with like and equal energy.

I am also the mother of two daughters, aged 18 and 14. My children have grown up in a world where online interaction and social media was commonplace. My children have encountered predators and predatory behavior since they were using the Internet. My children have been using the Internet since they entered school at age 5. And my children also fit into multiple minority categories.

If we don’t do this for ourselves as a civilization, we do it for our daughters. Our sisters. Our wives and mothers. Our nieces. Our women.

 This is a genderless aggression. It affects all genders equally.

 Though I’ve chosen the platform “Women Supporting Women”, it is a platform of “Mutual Respect Supporting Mutual Respect.” If you are an ally of integrity, respect, and human decency, it is your moral and ethical obligation to support this cause.

              Mark Zuckerberg, if you are choosing to punish one aggression and ignore another, you, sir, are part of the problem. If you are choosing algorithms that catch keywords of physical violence but ignore key words of sexual aggression and intimidation, you, sir, are part of the problem. And in doing so, you are actively sanctioning sexual violence against humans.

Sanction CONSENT TO COMPLIMENT.

Protect our vulnerable and under-represented.

-          Genevieve Kara-Tefft –

#WomenEmpoweringWomen

#ConsentIsSexy

#AMillionWomenForChange