It is a tragic, alarming, and utterly preventable cultural reality that women suffer increased rates of violence and harassment in practically every area of life. Antiquated gender roles, predatory societal figures, and a general lack of awareness all contribute to an ugly mosaic of mistreatment of women that has become astonishingly normalized and commonplace, even in the United States of 2019. This mistreatment permeates practically every environment, from our everyday social relationships to one of the most intimate, where women are supposed to feel the safest—their romantic relationships.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that one in three women have been the victims of physical violence by an intimate partner, one in five have experienced rape, and on average, nearly twenty people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. What’s even more alarming is that many of these incidents go unreported and never see the light of day. Solving the systemic problem of dating violence that impacts so many women requires creating an atmosphere of transparency of incidents, heightened accountability for offenders, and support and advocacy for victims. These conditions must be cultivated in both everyday life as well as in institutional paradigms.