Viral Instagram post powerfully addresses the victim-blaming surrounding Eliza Fletcher’s murder

We see it every single time a woman in harmed in any way—the victim-blaming. And, unfortunately, the murder of Eliza Fletcher is no different. Runner Ali Feller shared a powerful Instagram post addressing this very topic, and why we as a society has to stop participating in it.

The post features an image of Feller as she competes in a race mid-run. She begins the post by listing all of the different ways people have defaulted to blaming Eliza Fletcher for her own kidnapping and murder while out on a run early in the morning one morning last week in Memphis.

Fletcher, a 34-year-old Pre-K teacher and a mother of two, was allegedly kidnapped during the pre-dawn run and forced into a dark colored SUV near the University of Memphis. Her body was found Monday in the yard of a vacant house, approximately seven miles from where she was allegedly taken.

Cleotha Abston Henderson has been charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping. Hours after the kidnapping, and long before Fletcher’s body was found, police say Henderson was seen cleaning out the GMC Terrain police believed was used in the kidnapping.

Related: Women should be able to exist without fearing for our lives

Feller’s post really hits home for women everywhere.

“Why was she running at 4:30 AM?”

“Sure, when you’re running in the dark in what is basically a bikini…”

“She has kids. Why was she out running in the dark and not home with her kids?!”

“OK, but if you’re a billionaire, can’t you afford to hire 1–3 bodyguards to run with you? Seems like an obvious solution.”

“Hope she wasn’t wearing headphones… So unsafe.”

“This is why I never run alone, especially in the dark.”

“She should’ve been carrying mace or pepper spray.”

“She should’ve been carrying a gun.”

The list could go on, but Feller stops there. She then transitions to talking about how women who run are often aware of the dangers and more—but points out that women should be able to do things like go for a jog without fear they won’t make it home.

“This morning was the first morning in my 14 years as a runner that I was too afraid to get up and run in the dark,” she writes. “I’ve been scared before. Often. (Find me a woman who hasn’t.) But never to the point that I’ve let that fear keep me from the thing I love.”

Related: Women are sharing how they protect themselves from violence. Here’s what’s missing from the conversation.

She acknowledges her privilege in never having to feel fear while running, but also acknowledges that this very scenario has unfolded so many times that now she is scared.

“I can’t stop thinking about Eliza Fletcher,” she says. “I woke up to run today—at 4:30, in the dark, on familiar roads that I know and could probably run blindfolded by now, wearing bright, reflective gear and a headlamp, always bringing my phone “just in case”—but I couldn’t do it.”

She says she was “finally too scared” to run. And the victim-blaming that has run rampant in the comments section of every single story about Fletcher has really hit home for Feller. And many other women who are exhausted, too.

“The victim-blaming and the comments in response to this absolutely tragic story are horrifying,” Feller writes. “And not just in the Facebook comments sections on news stories. I’ve heard them from people I know, too. Including runners, both male and female.”

She’s absolutely right. Women shouldn’t have to fear for their lives simply for existing and exercising. Women have the same right to a safe environment as anyone else. Unfortunately, that doesn’t keep us safe. That right doesn’t keep any marginalized people safe while simply existing.

The thing is, victim-blaming doesn’t do anything to solve the problem of violence perpetuated against women. It’s harmful, detrimental, and unnecessary.

A 2018 Runners World survey focused on the harrassment and danger women often face while running. It states that while the likelihood of being murdered mid-run is low, 43 percent of women at least sometimes experience harassment on a run, compared with four percent of men.

According to the survey, 30 percent of women runners said they have been followed by a person in a vehicle, on a bicycle, or on foot, and 18 percent of women runners said they have been sexually propositioned, and three percent of women runners said they have been grabbed, groped, or otherwise physically assaulted.

“I don’t have a solution. I just have sadness, fear, and this rant,” Feller concludes in her post. “I have a tiny bit of hope, that someday women can run alone, at whatever time works for them, without fear. That they will ALWAYS return home safely. And that the response isn’t ‘she should just…'”