All my life, I have been told that it's a

BIG

BAD

world out there.

Get a man to walk you home at night, or you'll get kidnapped and raped. My curfew is adjusted depending on my relationship status: if I've got a boyfriend to walk me home, I can stay out as late as I want; if I'm single, it's home by midnight. The fear of nighttime and isolated areas has been embedded in me. Never once was I warned that a friend, a boyfriend, a teacher could sexually assault me-only bad men lurking in dark, scary alleyways. The truth is that a boyfriend, husband, acquaintance, or relative commits most of the rapes. Even though I know that and have even experienced the reality first-hand, I am still most scared of those dark isolated nights walking home-not of parties, school dances, or my boyfriend's house. Because I want to believe that this shit only happens in dark, scary alleyways. Not in my own home, with someone I trust.

Imogen Birchard