The phrase “kill all men” is often used by women to combat the actual issue of being objectified and physically harmed by men. This phrase has caused a lot of controversy and stigma surrounding feminism on Twitter. When #KillAllMen first surfaced and became a trend, a lot of women used the hashtag to talk about the uncomfortable and disgusting encounters they have had with men. Some responded to this trend by tweeting things like,

“When anyone uses #KillAllMen and everything is fine, but when anyone uses #KillAllWomen they are sexist misandrists[sic] and should burn eternally in hell? 

I thought we were striving for equality…” -@EricLia56395460 

 It is not the same.

To me, this is understandable, because many interactions I have had with men have left me annoyed, offended or even scared. Using a hashtag like this or something similar would help me feel like I am not alone. So this begs the question: do women really want to kill all men? Probably not. It is very easy to look at this trend and immediately shut it down, but it opens up a bigger problem than just a harsh hashtag. Men who were bothered and took offense to this hashtag now have a small understanding of what many women go through everyday; fearing for your safety every time you step outside. 

 Femicide, the killing of women solely because they are women, is a global problem. Particularly in Latin America, the word  is used to describe the killing of women and the lack of consequences their perpetrators receive. According to The Global Americans, in Latin America, 12 women are being killed each day out of 400 homicides. During a 2017 study, out of the 87,000 women killed that year, a third of their perpetrators were intimate partners. 

Even so, the hashtag has no direct correlation with femicide. This unjust killing of women has to be stopped; equality is something that cannot be acquired when many women, globally, still feel unsafe just going outside. It is not that all men are rapists, murderers or abusers, but a lot of men are complicit. Think about the last time someone or a friend of yours made a misogynistic comment towards one of your female friends or a classmate. Did you step up and call them out? Simple microaggressions like these contribute to bigger problems like the patriarchy which all men benefit from. Instead of being defensive when coming across opinions or ideas you immediately disagree with, learn to empathize and understand other people’s perspectives. The lack of justice for femicide is something that needs to change in our system and something we need to advocate for, it is something we cannot change by ourselves but learning about it and its roots can help.