Introduction to the Everyday Sexism Project
Watching her young boys, Sarah Brown noticed a sense of limitless self-belief. They believed they could be anything through simple practice and courage. To a child, the concept of odds does not exist, as they do not see the invisible barriers that society will eventually place in their path.
Laura Bates realized the weight of her own experiences through a week of small, stinging moments. A man seized her hand at a café and refused to let go, while another followed her off a bus shouting unwanted offers. These incidents felt so routine that she initially brushed them off as just another part of life.
Curiosity led her to ask other women about their own experiences with harassment. She expected a few stories from the distant past but found a flood of recent accounts. Every woman she spoke with had a story from that very week or even that morning, making it clear that casual intrusion was a near-daily reality.
To bridge the gap between public denial and private reality, she launched the Everyday Sexism Project for women to share their stories online. What started as a small project exploded into a global movement within months. Tens of thousands of entries poured in from dozens of countries, proving the problem was universal despite claims that sexism no longer existed.
These stories revealed that minor incidents and extreme violence are part of the same connected chain. Casual disrespect creates a culture where more serious violations can thrive without consequence. By joining these dots, the project turned private silence into a powerful public record of truth.
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