dead women and other tragedies
Dear people of the world,
Rape.
It's a subject that for some reason no one wants to discuss. It makes people 'uncomfortable' to talk about, think about, believe. But I would like to point out that your discomfort is quite frankly 'too bad' considering that the men and women and children who are victims of rape feel a lot more than 'uncomfortable'.
Miss Eurydice Dixon is just a year older than me, and already she has been stolen of her innocence, dignity and life. The man who brutally assaulted and murdered her at merely 3am in the morning as she was walking through a park just metres from her home has people across Australia baring sympathy for the man who committed this atrocity.
How dare you.
How dare you excuse his hands and the places he touched
How dare you regard him incapable of 'knowing what he was doing'
How dare you say it was her fault and deface her vigil
That 'she shouldn't have been walking alone', that 'she asked for it'
How dare you tell me and every woman within our country that a man's right to our bodies overrules our own. She did not deserve to die.
As a child I was terrified of the monsters under my bed, and I had nightmares about them pulling me down into hell.
As an adult, I have those same nightmares, but the monsters are men and they drag me off the footpath and into a place much worse.
I walk through parks all the time.
I should not have to walk with 000 dialed in my phone in advance.
I should not have to walk into a store I don't want to so he'll stop following me.
I should not have to tell you not to touch me there when I'm dancing with my friends.
I should not have to ask especially for a female taxi driver to drive me home.
I should not have to call security to walk me to my apartment because I'm scared the man who followed me from town will follow me up the stairwell.
I should not have to defend myself when I share my experience.
I should not have to carry my keys between my fingers when I'm getting into my car.
I should not have to call someone, anyone when I'm walking at night to discourage lurking predators.
I should not have to walk without earphones in on the way home from work in case someone is following me.
I should not have to keep my friends' experiences of sexual assault quiet because they are terrified of being labelled as a 'slut'.
I should not have to "take responsibility for my own safety", Superintendent Clayton.
I should not have to feel a man's hand grab my arm as I'm waiting for a taxi, him only letting go when I scream.
"Sir, I've asked you three times to let go."
I understand that victims of sexual violence are females and males alike. ALL people, regardless of age or gender or race should have the right to arrive home safely.
However, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2013-14) states that
-- 93% of sexual offenders are male --
What that tells me, is that this is not an issue of whether our Australian streets are safe but rather how women are portrayed and viewed by our global society. And no, men didn't kill Eurydice Dixon, one man did, but she isn't the only victim.
People, change your goddamn minds. Stop placing women on podiums with the most physically attractive being the trophy. Understand that, regardless of how attractive or unattractive our looks may be, we are not your property or your right.
My entire life I have been a girl interested in science and mathematics more than textiles and cooking and I am just one of many. That is not to say that I cannot enjoy baking or sewing, but it is to say that
I am more complex than your fucked up gender stereotype.
Men are more likely to commit sexual assault when it goes unpunished (National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 2004), and they are able to rationalize their behaviour when it is nothing more than pure cruelty.
310 per 1000 rapists are reported to police
57 per 1000 rapists are arrested
6 per 1000 rapists are incarcerated (National Sexual Assault Hotline, n.d.)
That means just 0.006% of rapists are punished. This terrifies me.
Studies have been done to show that the majority of rapes occurred due to a man's perception of women.
Well, I guess the only way to fix that is to stop the terrible sexist jokes and to start respecting women as people who own their own identity.
We are beautiful deeper than surface level, we are intelligent and inspiring and we will change the world.
1 in 5 women are raped during their lifetime.
Please, don't let me be one of them.
Love, Monty x