An average of more than 2500 people were murdered per year between 2008 and 2011 in Juarez, and female residents of the city have particularly been the targets of femicide, or killing women because of their gender. Yet experts estimate that only one out of every four cases of murdered women in Juarez are even investigated by authorities, and criminal charges were only filed in 2 percent of those cases.

In early May, a 19-year-old girl named Noura Hussein was sentenced to death by a court in Sudan. The verdict came after Hussein killed her husband, whom she was forced to marry at 15 and who allegedly raped her.

On May 10, Spotify announced it will essentially act as an omniscient curator of the music of two problematic (if not criminal) artists: R. Kelly and XXXTentacion. Both of the artists’ music will still be available on the service, but Spotify will no longer actively promote their work.

Prout has been an activist and advocate ever since she was sexually assaulted by a student at the elite prep school St. Paul’s in 2014. She has since launched the hashtag and movement #IHaveTheRightTo. This month, Prout published a memoir: I Have The Right To: A High School Survivor’s Story of Sexual Assault, Justice, and Hope.

On April 26, 2018, the provincial court of Navarra, Spain, ruled that five men had not raped a Spanish woman, but sexually abused her. Under Spanish law, sexual abuse is a crime that does not use intimidation or violence, and therefore warrants a lesser sentence than does rape.

The first day of the retrial resulted in a 10.5-hour jury deliberation, but failed to result in a verdict. But on the second, Cosby was found guilty on all three counts of sexual assault. While the judge has not yet set a date to sentence Cosby, each of the counts is punishable by up to ten years in state prison.

November 25 is International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and this year's theme is “leave no one behind.”

Over 12 million women — some famous, many not — have since used #MeToo to share their experiences with harassment and/or assault.

In July of this year, Columbia University settled alleged rapist Paul Nungesser’s lawsuit against the school for gender-based discrimination. Nungesser was accused of raping then-fellow Columbia student Emma Sulkowicz, who gained attention for her 2014 performance-art piece Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight).

There are very few (if any) women who haven’t thought about it. We think about it as we walk to our cars after a night out, as we jog around the block after the sun’s been down for hours, as we watch our little sisters leave home. We clutch our keys between our fingers and tense our muscles.