OPINION: I watched Adolescence as an Irish woman - I've an important message for Irish men

I recently watched Adolescence, a Netflix series everyone cannot stop talking about but as a woman I felt only one emotion: anger.

A family's world turns upside down when 13-year-old Jamie Miller is arrested for murdering a schoolmate, Katie.

The narrative in this series, which may get renewed for a second series, almost blames the girl’s behaviour as the reason this awful tragedy happened to her, not Jamie. It showed how Katie ‘bullied’ Jamie when in reality she stood up for herself when an image without her consent was shared among the school.

Society takes a lot of blame off men and puts it on women. What was she wearing? Was she leading him on?

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It does not matter if a woman is wearing the sexiest underwear or if she decides to change her mind, no means no and more often than not we are teaching young boys to follow their ego, not their head, and to me this series shows this well.

The series does what it is supposed to do; raise awareness and get parents in particular thinking about what is happening online for their children. There are many things men can be doing to make women feel more safe and those lessons can and should be taught from a young age.

As a young woman, I am conscious of who is walking behind me, looking over my shoulder, or not wearing my headphones too loud to be aware of my surroundings, day and night.

Men, if you are walking behind a woman late at night or in a secluded area, if you can, cross the road or if you can’t, try to walk ahead. If you can control it, don’t have your hood up and head down.

If you offer a woman a lift home, don’t lock the doors. If she says no, don't convince her a lift home is something she should say yes to. Respect her decisions.

Don’t assume if she agrees to go out with you she ‘owes you’ anything. Don’t assume because you pay the bill she ‘owes you’ anything.

Stand up for the women you know and you don’t when other men disrespect her or say something misogynistic. If you have any female friends, after a night out offer to walk them home and make sure they get in the door safely.

These are only a few of the small things that men can do to make women feel safe. Men can and should continue to research, read and widen their education on what it means to be a woman in today’s society.

Recognise you are privileged if you are a man just by that fact alone, and you have a responsibility in society to act on this privilege and use it for the right reasons.