Imagine you leaving your house fully equipped to fight for justice and better governance. Thinking that the only thing you need to fear are bullets and teargas but get raped instead.

By the people you are fighting with. Fellow comrades, fellow Kenyans. You can imagine it, but it is a reality for a girl somewhere after June 25th.

In a space that should symbolise unity and resistance, many women are forced to navigate the brutal reality that fighting for your country sometimes means guarding yourself against your fellow citizens.

This is the untold story of the women who show up, speak out and risk everything. This lady wasn’t attacked by police. She wasn’t whisked away into a Subaru. She was assaulted by other men in the crowd.

And when brave people tried to rescue her, they were reportedly threatened with machetes. The rapist even posted it on social media. Can you believe that?

How are women supposed to fight all these battles all together? How are they supposed to come out and peacefully protest if they are targets of assault?

How are they supposed to feel safe when they need a male escort in order to come to demonstrations? For women in Kenya, protests are a gamble with your body.

While men run from tear gas, women run from that and from YOU, the predator hiding behind chants and flags. Because some of you are not protesters. You are not freedom fighters. You are just goons.

Wolves in revolution’s clothing and the reason many women stay home. We are told to show up, to stand for something bigger than ourselves. But what do we do when our fellow citizen becomes our attacker?

Someone will ask, “What was she doing outside protesting. She should have been at home cooking?”

Women, too, are angry and tired. They want their voices heard. The issues we fight for affect them too. Gone are the days when only men appeared in the streets to fight for justice.

You are backwards-thinking for asking that. When women go to protest, they carry more than placards; they carry risk layered on risk. But we will keep showing up. Angry. Loud. And unbroken.

Nthiana is a Sexual and Reproductive Health advocate at NAYA Kenya.