< Translator’s note: The original formatting of the stories has been preserved. The translations aim to remain as close as possible to each author's original wording and expression.

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Sometimes guys just don't understand a refusal — especially when it comes to a boyfriend-girlfriend or husband-wife relationship. "You're with me, it's normal." But active consent must exist even in a relationship.

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In my former relationship, there was none of that. Even when I refused sex, he kept asking me again and again, and when he got a refusal, he started physically pursuing me. Pushing him away felt scary and shameful because of not understanding his reaction and the thought: "What if he gets offended and we stop seeing each other?"

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Then it became a pattern — he would ask, I would refuse, and my refusal didn't interest him. This went on for about a year. I eventually stopped even resisting, because unwanted sex had become my everyday life.

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As a result, I now have no desire for sex at all, a psychological trauma, and the thought in my head: "What if all he needs from me is sex?"

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Karina; story was told in 2021 as part of the "16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence" campaign