"I have a boyfriend"

I'm sure any ladies reading this are familiar with this phrase. It's when you go out with friends or to class or just go out in public and some guy starts hitting on you and he won't take no for an answer. So you tell him "I have a boyfriend," sometimes it's true, sometimes it's not. This sentence will shut most guys up and get them to leave you alone. 

A lot of people, both men and women, wonder why women keep saying this. It's because usually saying "No thanks, not interested" isn't enough to get a guy to leave you alone. They think that the ONLY reason you would turn them down is because you already have a boyfriend. It's because they think they deserve or have the right to date you and that your opinions and preferences don't matter.

Claiming to have a boyfriend can also be much safer than just saying no and directly refusing a man's advances. There have been a large number of stories about women being attacked or killed for turning men down. There is a Tumblr blog, When Women Refuse, dedicated to news stories and personal stories of people who have been injured or killed for telling someone no or breaking up with their boyfriend. The blog started in May 2014 and already has 525 posts. 

Marren Sanchez in what would have been her prom dress.

Last year, Marren Sanchez in New York turned down a prom invitation. In response the boy stabbed her in the neck because, you know, that's the most logical and sane response. The stabbing occurred in the high school building a few days before prom.

But sometimes saying you have a boyfriend still doesn't work. Last October, Mary "Unique" Spears turned down a stranger who approached her in the streets asking for her name and number. The man hit Spears and her fiance got involved. The man then pulled a gun shot Spears twice in the head and fired shots into the crowd that had gathered to watch the scene. Spears' fiance and four of her family members were hit. 

Gabriel Ervie's dog Oliver

Also last year, after Gabriel Ervie turned down an ex's sexual advances the man, William Rabourn left a threatening message on her phone. He then broke into her apartment and threw Ervie's dog, Oliver, out of a third story window. The dog died when he hit the ground. Ervie said she is glad that her daughter wasn't home when Brabourn broke into her apartment because things could have been much worse. If this isn't terrifying enough, this happened in Springfield, Missouri. The police arrested Brabourn on the Missouri State University campus.

Despite all of this, some people think we should stop saying "I have a boyfriend." They say we need to keep telling persistent men that we aren't interested, no matter how many times we have to say it. There aren't very many people that think this but this article pretty much sums up their views. Be sure to read the comments.

TL;DR: Women say "I have a boyfriend" because it can be dangerous to turn men down.