Three stories have been going back and forth in my mind over the past 24 hours. The first is so horrific I literally got sick last night after I read it. All three are connected by showing how much our culture fosters rape and limits girls’ and women’s mobility and sense of safety in public spaces and in society as a whole.
1. Boko Haram has kidnapped many women and girls (with school girls kidnapped from their school a year ago the most well-known globally) in Nigeria. Many have been treated as sexual slaves. The very visible proof? 214 of the 234 teenage girls rescued were pregnant. Let that sink in. Fortunately they have been rescued and their communities are welcoming them back and they will receive medical help and counseling. But. No one should have to live through that pain, fear, and suffering, with their lives changed forever by not only the experience but by being forced into motherhood at a young age against their will. It shows how disposable and with how little respect or regard some men have for girls’ and women’s bodies.
2. Taylor Yocom, a 22-year old photography student from the University of Iowa created the “Guarded” project to show what women carry to protect themselves, like mace or their keys, which they hold as a weapon. Via BuzzFeed: “These loaded objects on key chains where trinkets should be really do portray how women are expected to always be on guard to protect themselves…when the rapists should not be raping,” she said. “I want people to see the sexual assault statistics (whether they are from strangers who attack on the streets or from date rape) as actual individuals impacted, not simply numbers.”
Good for her. I have carried mace with me since I was 14 years old. It is ridiculous that we have to live this way, have that mentality.
3. In New York City, via Gothamist: “[The] suspect attempted to engage the victim, a 34-year-old female, in conversation. When the victim ignored the suspect, the suspect spat at the victim, who then began to laugh at the suspect. The suspect then took out a sharp instrument, slashed the victim in the arm and then fled the station.” The woman was treated at the hospital and is okay. The man is at large.
But harassers are just trying to be nice and it’s a compliment, right? WRONG. Street harassment is about power, it’s about disrespect, and all too often, it’s about an underlying threat of violence.
