And the stupidest part of it is that this status quo hurts men too. Because they don't realize that perpetuating it makes women afraid of men (with a valid reason).

Hell, right now, if a man approaches a woman, her first reaction is fear and distrust, and it's justified because they learned that it's better to fear a man and be safe than to trust him and be sorry later. And this is hurting men too because makes it harder to find someone even if you are a sane (as in not a potential rapist) individual. Helping to perpetuate this status quo is basically shooting ourselves in the foot, repeatedly.

PS: just in case it wasn't clear, I speak as a male human being. 👀