It is a common theme throughout the book that the main character is constantly verbally and physically harassed/assaulted by men. She often mentions the way they look at her, think/say threatening things, and even grope her. She also mentions how they often threaten rape, and that she feels unsafe around men. On page 44, it is mentioned that a man's wife was raped, resulting in a child. "He'd handpicked a brute from his prisons, a dirty, savage man, and sent him north to punish Brocker by punishing Brocker's wife." Page 48: "the few women he couldn't seduce with the power of his beauty or his mind, he raped. The few women he impregnated, he killed" Pages 143-145: a man verbally assaults the main character and says horrible things about what he will do to her – it is implied that he threatens to rape her. His specific words are not written.