吃瓜直播

This is to those who could never speak up.
Maybe you didn鈥檛 know that when he first texted you, he would end up punching you,
That black eye you didn鈥檛 know what to tell your mother.
Repeatedly sending you text messages, following you around until it became terrifying.
Calling you names and then slapping you around the corner.
Aren鈥檛 we supposed to feel safe at school?
That鈥檚 why, darling, you have rights. You have to realize what they are, and get out of your situation.
You are in control of your own life.
Your school has to protect your well-being AND your right to an equal education.
Education.
Education.
Education = success.
Success = happiness.
Don鈥檛 give up now.
While you鈥檙e in class and the buildings, during field trips and extracurricular activities, or even on the bus,
Your school MUST - now this isn鈥檛 a 鈥渟houlda/coulda/wanted to help ya鈥� kind of a deal,
Your school MUST provide a safe environment for you.
And if they don鈥檛, you have a right to speak up because you鈥檙e in control now.
Your school absolutely MUST let you speak up
Just as much as you have every right to say 鈥渘o鈥� when they tell you to 鈥渨ork it out鈥� and talk directly to the attacker
No. Because you are not a victim anymore.
Your rights darling, your rights.
Your school has no right to punish you.
Don鈥檛 change schools, busses or classes.
Don鈥檛 leave a team or change your extracurricular activities.
Don鈥檛 change your environment in any way that would hurt you even more.
You have every right to an equal education.
Equality is yours, speak up and grab it.
And don鈥檛 let the school use time as an excuse.
If they pressure you to wait to take action on a gender-based violence complaint,
know that this is against the law.
Your school must take action immediately, don鈥檛 let anyone dance around the clock.
Just because you鈥檙e a girl, boy or anything in between, don鈥檛 become a victim
to gender-based violence.
Know that when you speak up,
you are about to change your life.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month and this week the 吃瓜直播 in conjunction with some of our youth clients and , a global network of youth activists and advocates empowering themselves and one another to create the change they imagine for the world, is presenting a blog series. 鈥淵our School Your Rights 鈥� Ending Sexual Violence鈥� is designed to highlight the many voices impacted by sexual violence and harassment in schools and the tools students, teachers and parents can use to fight back. The girls, expressing themselves in both poetry and prose, underscore the fact that kids have a RIGHT to be protected against gender-based violence in schools.

Learn more about sexual assault: Sign up for breaking news alerts, , and .