because

because

she is someone's sister
she is someone's daughter
she is someone's mother
girlfriend
wife
friend
it does not matter
she is someone
she is a human being, like you and me
she deserves to be treated like a person
she deserves to be treated with respect.

but she was too drunk
she was too sober
she was not wearing enough
she was wearing too much
she never said no
she said yes, at first
she liked it
she never put up a fight
she never stopped you.

because you could do it
because you wanted to
because you wanted her

and while you receive praise for "getting some," she gets ignored, her pain pushed aside
because you were young
because you have hormones
because you did not know better
because "boys will be boys"
because it was "locker room talk".

why are you so upset?

because this is "okay"
because this is "normal"
because this is excused
because it was not her fault
because she can no longer sleep at night
because she was afraid to speak up
because she is no longer here to speak up
because nobody listened to her
because nobody listened to me.

and i will stay angry, because i am tired
because it is unfair
because "prison would be too hard on him"
because the memories are still clear as day
because it is a problem
because it needs to stop.

i am upset because assault is more common than lightning strikes
because i am told to be quiet
because it is "no big deal"
because i refuse to be quiet
because it is my duty to speak for those who cannot
because if i sit and remain silent instead of standing with and fighting with all of my sisters, this will not stop
because the rate at which women responded to a tweet asking about their assault stories is "#notokay"
because i still have to see his face every week
because nobody can just "get over it"
because we have to stay in groups when walking, even in broad daylight
because my hometown is number one in the united states for human trafficking
because some women are unsafe in their own homes.

i am upset because parents teach their daughters to defend themselves in case of assault instead of teaching their sons that "no" means "no"
because some victims are too young to understand the situation
because i was too young to understand why he was holding me underwater after i refused to kiss him
because what started as trying to give him another chance at friendship ended with feeling unsafe in my favorite place
because i should never have let him get that close to me
because i loved him
because he loved me!
because sometimes speaking up has no effect
because it only got worse after we told someone
because jokes about abuse are still funny
because nobody seems to understand the severity of the situation.

i am so tired of hearing people whisper about how scared i look around large groups of males
because they think of it as funny.

look me in the eye and tell me that your joke about taking advantage of someone is funny.

because i am not laughing.