“Ninety-seven percent of women have been sexually assaulted.”

This statistic has been spreading around the well-known app, TikTok, quite rapidly. A lot of viewers aren’t sure of the source of this rather high number, but this percentage isn’t completely unbelievable. Many young women are starting to use their platforms to speak out on their own experiences of sexual harassment—not only in private settings but also in public ones.

TikTok hasn’t always been known as a place to gather valuable information. So, the statistics given should be taken with a grain of salt for we aren’t exactly sure of the accuracy. Yet, enough young adults are speaking out their truth in a time where that is the hardest.

Many women are creating short, fifteen-second clips of them talking about what they were wearing while being sexually harassed, comparing the not all men movement to wasps and their intentions. The motive is to spread awareness even if they’re part of the three percent of women that haven’t been sexually assaulted.

TikTok has been doing a great job during the month of March to celebrate women all over the world, but with the month coming to an end, women all over the globe want to make sure that they are heard while they are stepping into their short period of the spotlight.

Any age group, such as minors or grown women, has been raising awareness through this once kid-friendly app. Although these movements are changing the algorithm and purpose of TikTok, it’s for the better. We’re always taught in school that we have a voice and that we should use it, and our easiest platform to reach millions of people is something that’s right on our phones.

Seeing other apps like Instagram or Facebook not taking a stand for the same matter is very interesting considering that TikTok is a children’s app; it really goes to show how young women are using their voice now that they’re given the easy opportunity.

With these platforms reaching every corner of the world, it can be dangerous to trust everything that you see on the internet, so taking statistics quite literally to use in an argument can be unreliable. But, the stories that these women are telling are the ghastly truth; these women have lived through the unimaginable.

Sexual assault can range anywhere from catcalling on the way home from work all the way to abuse in a house that you used to feel safe in. While assault seems more common in 2021, more and more women are taking their opportunity to spread awareness which can make it seem like the abuse rates have skyrocketed.

It’s important to do research of your own while digging into a topic as deep as sexual assault, but hearing real-life stories are so much more emotional than looking at a number on a chart. These women are some of the strongest people on the planet for speaking out on something that others may deem as dirty or sinful. Using your voice in 2021 has become more and more difficult despite the opportunities.

The majority of women have already been sexually assaulted at least once in their lives, and this has been majorly clear from hundreds of women sharing their stories. To the hypothetical three percent of women, you are not invalidated, and women and men alike have to protect that remain.

To the supposed ninety-seven percent: you are valid, you are loved, you are not unclean, you are some of the strongest people that we will ever encounter; hold your head up high.