Sexual Assault During Menstruation and Post-Trauma Triggers

In this episode Hecate discusses why menstruation can be triggering for survivors, especially for those who have been assaulted during their periods. Hecate provides statistics from medical studies indicating that a significant percentage of SA survivors were menstruating at the time of their assault. The combined social stigmas against speaking about SA and menstruation mean this is an experience that is not being talked about enough, leading to even greater feelings of isolation and shame.
The episode also addresses some of the challenges of managing periods post-trauma, and different menstrual products through a survivor’s lens. With personal anecdotes and research-backed insights, this episode aims to provide a voice to the often unspoken and overlooked intersection of menstruation and SA trauma. Hecate hopes this episode will help other survivors who have had this experience feel less alone.

Tw/Cw: SA (and some details of assaults), R*pe, PTSD, menstruation, substances, and strong language.

Links and References:

Cardenas, K., Wiersma, G., Dykema, J., Rossman, L., Fedewa, J., & Jones, J. S. (2011). 279 impact of the victim’s menstrual cycle phase on genital injuries following sexual assault. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 58(4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annemergmed.2011.06.309

Gollapudi, M., Thomas, A., Yogarajah, A., Ospina, D., Daher, J. C., Rahman, A., Santistevan, L., Patel, R. V., Abraham, J., Oommen, S. G., & Siddiqui, H. F. (2024). Understanding the interplay between premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and female sexual dysfunction (FSD). Cureus, 16(6). https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.62788

Noll, J. G., Trickett, P. K., Long, J. D., Negriff, S., Susman, E. J., Shalev, I., Li, J. C., & Putnam, F. W. (2017). Childhood sexual abuse and early timing of puberty. Journal of Adolescent Health, 60(1), 65–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.09.008

Vu, A., Moaddel, V., Emmerich, B., Rossman, L., Bach, J., Seamon, J., Barnes, M., Ouellette, L., & Jones, J. (2023). Association between the victim’s menstrual cycle phase and genital injuries following sexual assault. Clinical Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 6(2), 038–042. https://doi.org/10.29328/journal.cjog.1001127

*Thank you again to my sister Chie for their invaluable help with research and citations!*

Articles about the heavy metals found in tampons:
https://factor.niehs.nih.gov/2024/8/feature/3-feature-metals-in-tampons

https://publichealth.berkeley.edu/articles/spotlight/research/first-study-to-measure-toxic-metals-in-tampons-shows-arsenic-and-lead

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024004355#:~:text=Across%20those%20studies%2C%20a%20range,et%20al.%2C%202022).

Lucky Iron Fish: https://luckyironlife.com/?srsltid=AfmBOorbSgfTM6sE3c6r-IRy3MNC0u-i8v-S4-s5lkZPo89aSCXJvEfj

Finding OK: https://www.finding-ok.com/

Hecate's Links: https://linktr.ee/FindingOK

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Music is "Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of Your Fist" used with the personal permission of Ramshackle Glory. Go check out their music!
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0qdbl...

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction and Trigger Warnings
01:17 Menstruation and Trauma
07:47 Challenges with Sanitary Products
12:14 Personal Experiences of Assault During Menstruation
15:58 Statistics and Research on Assault During Menstruation
21:01 Triggers and Coping Mechanisms
32:08 Conclusion and Support
3

Transcript

Hecate: 0:00

With these powers of patriarchal taboos combined, I fucketh thee up!

Ramshackle Glory: 0:21

Dahlia never showed me nothing but kindness. She would say, I know how sad you get. And some days I still get that way, but it gets better. It gets better. It gets better. Sweetie, it gets better, I promise you. And she'd tell me. She'd tell me. Your heart is a muscle the size of your fist. Keep on loving. Keep on fighting. And hold on, and hold on, Hold on for your life.

Hecate: 1:02

Hi there. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Hecate, and this is Finding OK, a healing podcast for survivors of sexual assault and any and all abuse. When survivors share, we share strength. You are not alone. Today I'm going to be talking about how menstruation can be especially triggering for those of us who have experienced sexual assault during our periods. I know. Oof. Trigger and content warnings for this episode include the following: Sexual assault, and some details of assault, rape, PTSD, menstruation, substances, and strong language. I also wanna let you know that when I talk about menstruation, I include all menstruating people. Some cis-women menstruate, some trans-men menstruate, some non-binary people menstruate, myself included, and some intersex people menstruate. I just wanted to mention that so that you know why I am using the language I'm using, and so members of the Queer community know that this episode isn't about to erase them the way most conversations about menstruation tend to. I see you. Please check in with yourself and make sure you're all right to continue. If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting my work by becoming a Patreon member. Tiers start as low as $1 a month, and membership at any level changes my life. Creating this podcast takes an incredible amount of time, energy, and emotional labor. And so if you believe that what I'm creating has value, and you believe in supporting survivors and compensating them for their labor, please click the link in episode notes to learn more about membership benefits. Finding OK is funded entirely by the generosity of Patrons and listeners like you. Thank you. I've been wanting to make this episode for a long time, but it is a doozy. Uh, not that all my episodes aren't doozies, but this one is a doozy that's been sitting on my chest for about a year, kinda like that gothic horror painting, The Nightmare, by Henry Fuseli. My degree is in visual arts, pardon the occasional art history reference. Um, I've been healing from various forms of abuse and assault over multiple decades, and being aware of my own triggers has been a huge part of managing my CPTSD symptoms. It really took me by surprise several years ago when I fully realized just how deeply triggering my period was for me. I suffer from extremely painful and disabling periods, and I'm actually in the process of exploring a possible PMDD diagnosis. Uh, I'm also gonna check for endo while I'm there. With how disruptive my period already is for me, it was difficult for me to separate out trauma symptoms. So I'm making this episode in the hopes that it might help other survivors who are also getting hit hard with unrecognized trauma symptoms during menstruation. Or, maybe you do recognize it, and it'll just be important to hear somebody else talk about it. I've tried searching online multiple times over the years for statistics or research on the specific experience of sexual assault during menstruation, and it always left me empty handed and feeling even more isolated. If I have found it difficult to find resources on this subject, I'll bet you have too. I do wanna say, this episode may also be helpful for survivors who haven't been assaulted during their periods, but who still find their periods extremely triggering. This is so real and this is a recognized and a shared experience for survivors. It's documented and discussed, and you are not alone in this. I am going to talk a bit about how it can be triggering for all survivors of sexual assault who menstruate, and then after that I'm going to speak more specifically about what I have struggled with as a survivor who has experienced assault and abuse during my period. Menstruation is a massive physical and neuropsychological event. Our bodies change. There's often pain, swelling, bloating, weakness, fatigue, intestinal issues, emotional and hormonal fluctuations, and a feeling of vulnerability that's not just physical, but emotional. It's a very raw time for most people, and social stigma can make everything so much more painful and difficult in every way. Despite menstruation being a necessary and natural bodily function, it is heavily stigmatized by many, if not most cultures, because most cultures have been affected by violent patriarchal colonialism that destroyed or sidelined any indigenous respect or honor for this natural process. That's a whole thing, and it's not what I'm gonna talk about today, but I just want to acknowledge the fact that when it comes to the menstrual taboo and stigma, it was not always like this. Depending on what country or culture you live in or grew up in, you may experience menstrual taboo to a lesser or a greater degree, and I want to acknowledge that as well. I live in the United States, and menstrual stigma has affected me strongly, but the stigma is so much greater in other parts of the world, and this can make your period even more triggering and difficult. I believe being shamed or ostracized for a natural bodily function is inherently traumatic all on its own. Our periods are a time when more self-care is needed, if for no other reason than hygiene. Post-trauma it's common for many of us to disconnect ourselves from our bodies to a certain degree. Especially our genitals, if that's a body part that's experienced violence. Being forced to deal with that part of your body during your period can be so difficult. And if your culture has instilled shame or disgust in you surrounding your monthly bleeding, the entire process can easily become overwhelming. I'm gonna take a minute to talk about various sanitary products through a survivor lens for a moment. Sanitary products can be a struggle. Tampons are a popular choice for many, but this can be difficult for some survivors who find it triggering inserting something into their body, or who struggle with religious or cultural taboos against the use of tampons. If you don't have access to sanitary products that you need, or if the sanitary products you do have access to are not safe, this can also be triggering. I have tried multiple forms of menstrual products, and I will shift between them depending on what I'm finding less or more triggering to my trauma. When I use tampons, I will find myself very aware that my country and the companies that create these products have allowed toxic chemicals and metals in them, and that those toxins are almost certainly absorbed by my vagina. There are carcinogenic chemicals, bleach, formaldehyde, cadmium, arsenic, and lead in tampons because the companies that create them do not care about the health of the people who use them. These companies are almost always run by cis men, and most of the customers are cis women. So whenever I use a tampon, because I found other menstrual products too triggering that month because of the violence I experienced at the hands of men, I find myself also upset by the fact that the product I'm using is probably slowly poisoning me, which is more violence from men and from the government and culture, which has done nothing to stop it. I use tampons and I am reminded of how little my life and my health is valued by the society I live in. I switched to menstrual cups for many years, and I was very happy with how much more sustainable that choice was. But recently the discomfort of insertion became too much for me personally, and I had to switch back to tampons. This discomfort could be due to a number of factors, and I don't wanna discourage anyone from trying cups. It was my preference for a long time. I used pads when I was young, and before tampon applicators were more commonly available. I don't enjoy them. They make me feel like I'm wearing a diaper, and I become very self-conscious. Pads are kind of a sensory nightmare for me. I find them impossible to ignore, and so my attention is constantly called to discomfort in my lower area, which isn't great for trauma stuff either. I also find that odor is an issue with pads, which is a trigger for me when it's the blood, and when it's the artificial fragrance they add that's yet another sensory nightmare for me because I find it overwhelming and nauseating. I've used rags when I've been desperate and find them less triggering than pads, but they've been more of an emergency thing for me. I used period underwear for many years and that was actually the least triggering option I found. The brand I was using at the time had some controversy with potentially harmful chemicals or materials. I didn't keep up with whether it was true or not, but I didn't get another pair after a size change. I found that period undies were not only less triggering to my PTSD, but also more affirming for me as a non-binary person because they do have different styles available. I do plan on getting some new pairs, but one thing about the undies is that they are generally more expensive than just a box of tampons, and not everyone can afford that investment. If you can though, I do recommend them for survivors, just do your research first. If you're a survivor and you struggle with the products you're currently using, try looking into alternatives and check to see if the company in question has a program to provide for folks who might not be able to afford the cost of their product. If you're a member of a queer community center, try talking to them and see if they have a fund for helping people afford products. This is a part of revolutionary feminist and liberatory work, and options are worth looking into. We all deserve safe and affordable sanitary products. So at this point, I am going to shift into talking more specifically about the ways that I struggle as someone who's experienced assault during menstruation. I have been raped while menstruating and I have been molested while menstruating. There were certainly multiple non penetrative sexual assaults in addition to those two events. But I have blocked those out. I don't need those memories back. The abyss can keep them. I find myself wondering why this doubly unthinkable thing has happened to me not just once, but multiple times, and I think it just comes down to really sad math and bad luck. There's a certain chance that at any given time a person who menstruates could be bleeding. And the sad math means if a predator chooses to perpetrate violence against them, there's a chance that they could be bleeding when that violence occurs. If a person is in a situation where they are being regularly subjected to abuse or assault, then the chances of them being on their period at some point during one of those assaults just goes through the roof. I honestly believe that it's due to the combined stigmas or taboos surrounding both sexual assault and menstruation that this experience isn't talked about more. I think this has happened to a lot of us, and we deserve to have this part of our experience acknowledged. There's this myth that a predator won't rape somebody who is on their period. I've even heard some survivors say," If only I'd been on my period at the time, that would've stopped them". It's always painful for me to hear that because, no, it might not have. And it didn't stop any of my abusers. I think a lot of rapists probably don't notice, don't understand the signs, or don't care. I can only speak from my personal experience though. In my case, I don't think my abusers knew enough about menstruation, my anatomy, or sanitary products to understand the signs. I have been raped while I had a tampon inside me. Part of what can be triggering for me when using tampons is the memory of being a teenager, and wondering if I was going to have to go to the hospital to have my tampon removed after that assault. I know I'm not the only survivor to have struggled like that, and that's why I'm sharing it. I know it's hard to talk about, but I remember feeling so fucking alone in that moment, so alone, and so full of shame and confusion. If me sharing that helps you feel a little less alone with a similar moment, it's so worth my discomfort. Years later, I sought support multiple times by searching online, trying to find out if this happens to other people, and it just wasn't being talked about. It still isn't. I did some serious research while making this episode, and I wanna give a huge shout out to my sister Chie for helping me with that research. They're currently working on their Masters of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, and had access to medical papers and studies that I would've had a hard time finding or reading otherwise. Figuring out what to search for in order to get relevant statistics was extremely difficult, and I honestly did not think we'd find anything, but we did! And I read medical studies to get the statistics I'm about to share with you. I'm going to share the numbers, and then I'm going to explain why the numbers are ultimately flawed for our purpose. Okay? I found two studies that gave me relevant statistics. One study from 2023 reported 14% of sexual assault survivors were menstruating at the time of their rape. Another study from 2011 reported 20%. I've wanted to hear ballpark numbers like that since I was a kid, simply because I felt so alone with this. We never want to hear that any numbers or statistics are high when it comes to assault. But when you're healing, it can help put your trauma in perspective to have a concrete number to hold onto. For example, hearing that about one in three women, one in five men, and 50% of gender non-conforming people are survivors of sexual assault, changed my life. None of us ever want to feel like a statistic, but at the same time, when people tell you you're not alone, it can feel like bullshit if you don't have other vocal survivors in your life. Statistics helped me a lot, especially early on in my healing when I needed to work my way towards understanding sexual assault as a human experience shared by far too many. So finally hearing numbers, like 14% or 20% makes me actually feel so much less alone in this aspect of my trauma, and it makes me sure that this episode is going to matter to someone else. This deserves to be talked about without shame. The shame is not ours, it's theirs. And to quote Gisele Pelicot,"The shame must change sides". So again, those studies say that anywhere from 14% to 20% of women were menstruating at the time of their rape. The study focused on cis women and they both used the term "women". The true number of people who experience this is likely higher than that 14 to 20%.

And here's why: 18:47

the medical studies that yielded these numbers were actually studies that were exploring if the different phases of the menstrual cycle affected the severity of injury sustained by vaginal tissue during sexual assault. If hearing that was intense, I promise reading these papers was far more intense, but they are cited in episode notes if anyone is interested. No one was harmed for the studies, to be clear. Forensic data was going to be collected regardless from these victims, and the question was only whether or not it would be included in the data. By the way, both studies seem to suggest that, yes, the phase of a person's cycle does seem to affect the level of internal injury, but because these studies were designed to find the answer to that specific question, rather than simply answer my question of how many survivors had this experience, it means that they had a selection process for their study, and some people weren't able to be included. For instance, one study didn't include survivors who reported irregular periods or survivors who were on the birth control pill. That means there were more people who reported menstruating during their assault that didn't qualify for having their data included in the study. So, I would theorize that more than 20% of survivors who menstruate were menstruating during the time of their assault, and that it's not really being talked about, and this data isn't really being collected. I experienced my first sexual assault at 13 years old, and I had only been menstruating a couple years. It was after the assault that my period started to become more and more painful and debilitating. I always assumed that the morning after pill I had to take after the assault somehow messed up my body, and that fed into feelings of shame and blame. My periods were always so brutal that it took me over a decade to notice that my PTSD was also being triggered. But it was. I'm gonna talk about those triggers now, and it does mean bringing up some specifics about assaults. I'm talking about it because understanding how things were affecting me and why, was really important for me, and there's a chance it might help someone else who might be experiencing similar things. It might also help as an example of how to notice things, take self-inventory, and make connections so that you can start to find solutions and address whatever unique triggers might exist for you. One thing I noticed is that I find the breast swelling and tenderness triggering because it reminds me of my breasts being bruised and painful after being molested. Whenever I'm inserting or removing a tampon, I have an auditory flashback to being molested while I had a tampon in. The man asked me if I had something inside me, and when I said yes, he told me I shouldn't put things inside me because I have to allow for my vaginal secretions. Just fucking ew hate it. And I just hear that in my head, and I just hear that in my head whenever I'm trying to change my tampon, and it's so fucking ick that my soul just like leaves my body. I, I experience bone deep, drag you down, fatigue for the first couple days of my period. And this, paired with pain, and intestinal symptoms trigger some medical PTSD as well as sexual PTSD because I was deathly ill when I was stalked and molested by the flute playing monk. I know that's an insane combination of words. There's a whole episode. Me being weak and sick was how he managed to get past my door. Feeling symptoms in our bodies that mimic how our bodies felt during or after our abuse can trigger our brains into that super unwelcome time traveling. It can put us back in our pain body. We feel like we're back in our abused body at the time of our abuse. My brain thinks if I'm hurting, it must be because someone is hurting me. Even if I consciously know that's not what's happening, it's a deeply encoded experience that will take years to work through. It's my brain trying to keep me alive by setting off all the alarms. I was chronically ill for years as a kid, and part of that was bone deep fatigue as well. Missing work or school, or just not being productive brings up feelings of shame, fear, failure, inadequacy, resentment, and panic. Once I'm triggered, the sexual PTSD usually kicks in and comes up because my brain brings up the Microsoft Word paperclip like, " It seems like you're in survival mode. Would you like me to replay all the bad touch?" And that fucking window just keeps popping up again and again, even if I manage to close it out. Fuck you PTSD Clippy! Because I've ended up in circles that overlap with the new age community a lot, I come across a lot of goddess feminism, and it often includes the insidious message that if I'm not experiencing my moon tide as a magical rebirth and goddess power, then I'm failing at something and to be condescendingly pitied. I've been told so many times that if I embrace my cycle as something that makes me one with the goddess and nature, that I won't be in so much pain. Separating out the spiritual stuff, sure. Maybe if I do more trauma healing I will experience less physical pain, and I would assume the entire process would be less triggering. But there's always been a victim blamey edge to that messaging when I've received it. Like I have debilitating pain because I don't love myself or my vagina enough, or don't love a deity enough, or don't dance naked under the moon correctly. I will admit that healing work heals. The body and the mind are connected, and I do hope trauma healing will reduce symptoms. I hope that's true. That said, debilitating uterine conditions exist. Like PMDD, endometriosis, and fibroids to name a few. These are wildly underdiagnosed and the pain of menstruating people is systemically dismissed and ignored by doctors. This all intersects with patriarchy because medical research and western medicine are male dominated. It also intersects with patriarchy because medical research shows that people who have experienced sexual violence are at higher risk of developing conditions like these. Research also shows that people who experience childhood sexual abuse are more likely to begin puberty earlier than their peers. They don't know why, but it's thought that that extended exposure to sex hormones is what puts these people at higher risk for certain conditions and cancers. Being a survivor is a medical issue. And our pain deserves to be taken seriously, not just by our doctors, but also by Moonshadow Sky Ravenwitch at the Crystal Shop, and by ourselves! I cannot woo woo my way out of this. I have tried for years, and here's my truth. I tried loving myself, and I tried loving my period. I accept myself most days, and I hate my period. I resent it immensely. And while I accept it as a natural process, it does not make me feel particularly closer to nature or to any deity. I hate the pain. I hate the mess. I hate the smell. I hate the fatigue. I hate the immeasurable amount of time it has stolen from me and continues to steal from me. I hate the financial burden. I hate the mood swings, especially the way my brain starts telling me to kill myself during my luteal phase. I hate the intestinal distress. I hate the bloating. I gain about seven pounds of water weight every month, and my skin feels tight. I hate the painful swelling. I hate that it dictates real estate options. I have to live somewhere with a bathtub or I won't be able to manage my pain levels. I hate that I have climbed into the bathtub pantsless many times because I was in so much pain and the cramping was so bad there was a chance I'd pass out and shit myself, and I knew cleanup would be easier in a tub. That's fucked! I hate trying to get doctors to give a shit and do their jobs. I hate that the best pain relief I've found was illegal and unavailable to me for most of my life, for no good reason. I hate that I can't pursue more stable jobs because there isn't enough sick leave, and I know I'll just get fired anyway. I hate that society demands I pretend I'm not in agony when I'm in public because it would embarrass men. I hate that it triggers the fuck out of me and that I'll have to live with only two good weeks out of every month until menopause, which will be a whole new thing. I hate my period, and I find it triggering. It triggers my PTSD, my eating disorder, and half the time causes some gender dysphoria as well. I think acknowledging how I actually experience it and feel about it is important. You can't find solutions if you're not being entirely honest about the problem. Realizing that my period was triggering me has meant that I've been able to treat myself with so much more compassion. And it has meant that I've become much more willing to create space in my schedule for this part of my life. And society would shame me for creating that space, but I'm finally able to see it as valid and necessary. It's valid without the trauma. To be clear, we should all get at least a week of paid time off work if we need it. It's a bodily function and sometimes a medical event. Making room for it in professional settings is real gender equality, in my opinion. I'm still finding solutions and addressing triggers. I'm still seeking support and medical evaluations and care. The biggest support I've found is honestly taking half a THC and CBD Gummy to manage pain and PTSD symptoms during the really bad days. I'll be so for real, that's changed my life and it's done more for me than any doctor ever has. That's not to discourage anyone from seeking care from doctors, I hope. I hope your doctors give a shit more than all mine did. I hope they're helping you. And that said, I recently started care with a Queer affirming doctor who ran full blood panels and they found I was low on iron. That's helped a lot. I think it was just my body not being able to catch up with blood loss and my pescatarian diet not supporting it enough in that respect. So I got a Lucky Iron Fish to help with iron supplementation, and my next cycle was much more bearable. The pain was reduced. I'm working on it. I'm looking into things and being pushy and demanding tests and care. There were years where all I could do was curl up in a bloody, triggered, disassociating ball of agony in my bed. At least now I'm not low on iron while I'm doing that. I wanted to make this to say out loud that I was sexually assaulted and raped while on my period, and if that happened to you, you're not alone. It wasn't your fault. There's social stigma surrounding sexual assault, and there's social stigma surrounding menstruation. You should not be shamed for either of these things. I wanted to tell you that because I wish someone had been there to say, "Me too", to tell me that this actually happens to a lot of us. I'm so sorry it happened to you too. I wanted to offer my own struggles in case they helped you at all. Maybe you hadn't made the connection or realized that because you were assaulted while on your period. That maybe your period could be extra challenging or triggering. Take courageous self-inventory and treat yourself with endless compassion, softness, and kindness. You are deeply deserving of it. Figure out if and why things are affecting you, and slowly you can begin to find solutions and heal those wounds. Also, in case this episode is the only testimony you've found from someone who has this shared experience, please don't take it as a blueprint. If you had this experience and you are not experiencing triggers like mine, that's normal too. There's no normal. We all respond to trauma differently and between the complexities and variances of trauma, the brain, and menstruation, so many variables. You are unique and so is your healing journey, and I hope this helps you along your path. This episode may not have a lot of answers, but hopefully it echoes something unspoken, and echoes can sometimes help us understand and map the space we're in. May we all help each other find a way through. Thank you so much for listening. Please check episode notes. It's where you can find citations and articles if you'd like to learn more about the subjects I discussed today. It's also where you can find all my links, so you can check out my website, follow me on social media, subscribe on YouTube, and catch me live on Twitch. I want to remind everyone that with the disruption and changes we've been seeing with social media platforms, this is a good time to make sure you're following creators, organizers, educators, artists, and activists on other platforms in case they're forced to move elsewhere, and so you can have access to anything they might be producing that's being censored by social media. We need to stick together and stay connected. I especially encourage you to support your favorite creators on platforms like Patreon and Substack. If you didn't know, it's free to follow someone on Patreon if you can't afford a subscription. Shout out to all the Patrons that made today's episode possible. Thank you Emerald, Meadow, Urja, Kathleen, Sedonka, Bryony, The Gob, and an extra special thank you to the new Patreon members. Welcome in, Hana, Erica, and Grim Glutton! Thank you so much for answering the call. With your help, the podcast is now halfway to its funding goal. I am so excited you've joined us and I could not do this without you. Thank you all so much for your support. You're all changing my life and the lives of every single listener. Thank you for making Finding OK possible.

Hecate: 36:04

Today's episode was edited and produced by me, Hecate. The music is Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of Your Fist, used with the permission of Ramshackle Glory. Thank you again for listening. This has been Finding OK. Destroy the Kyriarchy, and keep working towards collective liberation. Take care of yourself, and take care of each other.

Ramshackle Glory: 36:25

Your heart is a muscle size of your fist. Keep on loving, keep on fighting, and hold on and hold on. Hold on for your life, for your life, for your life. Your heart is a muscle the size of your fist. Keep on loving. Keep on fighting. And hold on.