In the aftermath, Sarah has been struggling with panic attacks. Noting how much discussion around the topic of assault can veer into victim-blaming, she continued, “People are like, ‘Why didn’t you fight back? Or, ‘Why didn’t you use self-defense?’ My parents literally run a martial studio, I know women’s self-defence. But in this situation, I don’t know if this person has a weapon. I was attacked from behind! This person ran away, why would I escalate the situation? Many times women died because they fought back.”
“It’s really frustrating I was walking back home and trying to go do my work, and I got attacked. And now all of a sudden, I have to go to the doctor, I have to pay all these clinical bills and medical expenses, It’s just so unfair. I didn’t do anything wrong, these woman’s didn’t do anything wrong, and yet for their safety, and it’s all the responsibility and burdens placed on them and not on the city at all,” Sarah further said, emphasizing how hate crimes against women had been “normalized” and how minority women were likely to be more significantly affected. As it turned out, she was going to the police to report her assault the day I spoke to her. She cited the unsafe location of her local police station and a distrust of the police’s use of force as reasons as to why she initially did not approach the cops.
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