Writing is a process that brings you closer to your own identity, if that makes sense! It makes you reflect on your own values, attitudes and experiences. The person you were, the person you have become and who you strive to be in the future. Writing this book has made me think back to my teenage years, times that were both joyful and painful in equal measure. One overwhelming reflection was the feeling that constant harassment, sexism and abuse continues to invade and shape the experiences of young women. The landscape has changed, in the sense that these harmful experiences now manifest both online and offline. While the online world has provided opportunity, knowledge and, at times, private support, in particular in the post COVID-19 era, virtual platforms have also provided a tool for 24/7 surveillance and abuse. Despite this new ‘virtual’ landscape, the experiences of street harassment in the form of ‘catcalling’, groping and sexual coercion continue to be an ‘everyday occurrence’. Recollection of the normalisation of being judged by body shape during gym lessons, being groped on the bus or feeling pressured to have sex; essentially, the overwhelming gendered pressure and abuse continues.

While researching for this book, several people have asked me about my motivation and interest in this topic area. While the majority view this as an important issue to explore further, there are those commentators who continue to deny the presence of structural inequality, harmful gendered social norms and, indeed, abuse. In fact, I have had several ‘discussions’ focused on outlining the global evidence that clearly demonstrates the presence of gender-based violence (GBV). And yet there is this sense that, within a post-feminist society, equality has been achieved for women. At this point in the discussion, I always get a sense of two key issues: firstly, that there is a feeling that raising the issue is a nuisance, and, secondly, that there continues to be a wish by some men and women to remain ignorant of the extent of everyday harassment and abuse suffered, to a greater degree, by young women and women.