In my last relationship, my boyfriend would pester me for sex and continue trying to touch me and grab me even when I said no and told him I wasn’t in the mood. He would do this until I gave in and I accepted it for a long time thinking that’s just the way it is, as if I somehow ‘owed’ him sex for being in a relationship with him because he now apparently had unrestricted access to my body whenever he felt like it regardless of how I felt.

I’ve discussed this since leaving him with some people, most of whom have responded with ‘well that’s just how men are’, ‘they can’t help themselves once they get going’ and ‘haha yeah me too, my husband doesn’t shut up about sex so I just have sex with him to get it over and done with’. And god forbid that fucking ‘well he just wants to have sex with you as that’s his way of showing affection and feeling close to you’.

Sorry - what? How is this not sexual assault? Why should a man get to coerce you or pressure you into having sex with him that you’ve made clear you don’t want just because he is in a relationship with you? Why are there so many men who want to have sex with a partner who’s clearly not into it?

I’m so fucking angry when I think about all of the times that I let my ex do whatever he wanted with my body because I felt like I had to, because he made me feel guilty or because he just wouldn’t leave me alone unless I did. This needs to stop and it needs to be talked about more. We should not be accepting this kind of behaviour.