PROTECT WOMEN

A woman should not have to change the way she lives because other people refuse to change the way they treat her. She should be able to walk home alone at night without fear. She should be able to sit in a park after dark. She should be able to use public transport without being watched, followed or bothered. She should be able to wear whatever she wants without being judged or blamed for someone else's behaviour. She should be able to go out, drink, dance, have fun and enjoy herself without being treated as though she has given anyone permission to disrespect her. But protecting women is about more than preventing rape, sexual abuse, assault and harassment. It is also about the everyday things that are too often dismissed as "just the way people are". It is the way some women are spoken to. The way their opinions are dismissed. The way they are interrupted, patronised or talked down to. The way their boundaries are ignored. The way they are judged more harshly for the same behaviour as men. The way their appearance can be treated as an invitation for unwanted attention. The way they can be made to feel uncomfortable simply for existing in a public space. Respect should not depend on how a woman looks, what she wears, how much she has had to drink, who she is with, whether she is single, or whether someone finds her attractive. "No" should be respected. "Stop" should be respected. "Leave me alone" should be respected. And simply not wanting someone's attention should be enough. If we genuinely want to make society safer for women, we cannot wait until people are adults to teach them about respect. Children should learn from a young age that girls and boys deserve the same dignity, freedom and respect. Schools have an important role to play in this. Young people should be taught about healthy relationships, personal boundaries, consent, equality, respectful communication, misogyny, harassment and the importance of treating other people with dignity. They should learn that repeatedly asking after someone has said no is not romantic. That making someone uncomfortable is not funny. That insulting or humiliating someone is not harmless. That someone's clothes, appearance or behaviour never give another person ownership over them. And that respect applies even when nobody is watching. These lessons should not be treated as something that only matters when children become adults. The attitudes people develop when they are young can shape how they treat others throughout their lives. We should raise boys who understand that respecting women is not optional. We should raise girls who know that they deserve respect and that their boundaries matter. And we should raise a generation that understands that equality is not about one gender being above another. It is about everyone being treated with dignity. We should not teach women that the solution to being mistreated is to be more careful, dress differently, travel differently, stay inside, carry something for protection or constantly watch over their shoulders. We should teach people to respect women. A woman's safety should not depend on how well she can avoid dangerous situations. Her freedom should not depend on how carefully she manages other people's behaviour. Women deserve to feel safe. Women deserve to be heard. Women deserve to be respected. Women deserve to be treated as equals. And women deserve to live their lives without constantly having to calculate the risks of doing something as ordinary as walking home, getting on a bus, going out with friends or simply existing in public. This petition is a call for a culture where protecting women means more than reacting after something has happened. It means teaching respect from an early age. It means making respectful relationships and boundaries part of education. It means challenging degrading attitudes before they become normalised. It means taking women's concerns seriously. It means refusing to normalise intimidation, misogyny and unwanted behaviour. It means holding people accountable for how they treat others. And it means creating an environment where women do not have to earn basic respect, because respect is already expected. Women should not have to make themselves smaller to make the world feel safer. We should teach the next generation to make the world safer for women. Women should be able to live freely, speak freely, walk freely and exist freely — with dignity, equality and respect. Protect women. Teach respect. Change the culture.