Influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have been charged with rape and human trafficking. Dan Norris, Labor MP and mayor of the West of England, has been arrested for rape, child abduction and child sex offences. And comedian Russell Brand appeared in court last month over charges of rape and sexual assault.
And that’s just in the UK.
Rhys Turner-Moore
Hearing story after story of sexual harm can leave us feeling overwhelmed. Maybe you feel a sense of apathy: that sexual violence and abuse seem so inevitable that there’s nothing anyone can do about it. Maybe you feel fear: that sexual harm seems so pervasive that it’s better not to face it. Or maybe you even feel a sense of loss: that so much has been lost already, it’s hard to see what could ever be. I think this is how a lot of people feel about sexual violence and abuse.
How do I know? Because people have told me. And because I’ve felt those feelings, too.
But what brings me hope is knowing that sexual violence and abuse are not inevitable. We can change and prevent these in our lives and communities. I know this from researching these sexual harms for more than 20 years with wide-ranging groups of people.
There are small, everyday steps we can each take to collectively prevent sexual violence and abuse. This is what I call the everyday prevention of sexual harm — because there’s power in our daily lives to shape a better future.
“History has taught us that small acts can create change, even when those issues seem insurmountable.”
History has taught us that small acts can create change, even when those issues seem insurmountable. In 1955, during the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Ala. This individual courageous act led to fellow African Americans refusing to ride the city buses for more than a year, and ultimately, this led to change, with a Supreme Court ruling that segregated buses were unconstitutional.
This seemingly small act by Rosa Parks, coupled with the everyday acts of thousands of fellow African American citizens, tells us the enormity of an issue doesn’t necessarily demand enormous acts.
Rosa Parks’ story also tells us we don’t even have to seek out ways to act; there are opportunities and openings in our everyday lives.
#MeToo provided opportunities for people to share their own experiences of sexual harassment and abuse — often through a tweet or post on social media — while others commented and reshared as part of their everyday lives, collectively raising awareness and adding to the momentum, making it harder for companies, organizations and institutions to ignore the sexual harm occurring within them.
In another example, in 2023, 16-year-old Annabel Hodges saw an opportunity to raise the issue of street harassment in her local area with the UK Youth Parliament. This led to 10 volunteers, ages 11 to 19, chalking the concrete of Bournemouth town center with local community members’ experiences of harassment “to educate people on the impact of street harassment and encourage them to call out their friends on unacceptable behavior.”
The everyday prevention of sexual harm in our own lives might involve acts closer to home. Maybe we read or share something on how to develop consent and care in our sexual relationships. Maybe we express support at our child’s school for Relationships and Sex Education. Or maybe there’s everyday conversations with family, friends or neighbors that provide an opening — maybe something in the news or something in their day — where there’s an opportunity to listen, share a helpful resource or offer a way of seeing the situation that dispels myths about sexual violence and abuse.
“We already build small actions into our daily lives.”
We already build small actions into our daily lives. Nearly everyone says, ‘Thank you’ in some form each day — to a cashier, to a colleague, to a stranger holding a door. And, more than likely, we already have experiences of taking small daily steps in the service of wider goals. Perhaps we use a reusable water bottle or shopping bag, instead of plastic ones, to help the environment. Or perhaps we say “hello” when we see our neighbors and keep an eye on their flat or house while they’re away, to help create a caring, safer neighbourhood.
We can build the everyday prevention of sexual harm into our daily lives. It might be less familiar to us right now, but we can support each other.
At my university, a small group of us recently shared the idea of everyday prevention with fellow students and staff, inviting them to do it in their everyday lives too. I found that each of us in the group inspired and learned from each other. It has shown me we can practice everyday prevention and that it’s a learnable way of living like any other.
A world without sexual harm is not only needed, it’s possible. It’s within our reach. Every time we take a small step toward preventing sexual harm, we’re shaping that world. And when we take these everyday steps together, we build the future we all need, want and deserve.
Visit our project Instagram for ideas or share your own using #everydayprevention.
Rhys Turner-Moore is a Public Voices Fellow on the prevention of child sexual abuse with The OpEd Project, an associate professor and lead for the Sex, Sexualities and Sexual Harm research group at Leeds Beckett University, UK.