A Haunting Statistic and a Mother’s Call to Action
March 14, 2009
by Hughes
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Violence against women is in the headlines again and again: Monserrate, Aasiya Hassan, Chris and Rihanna. As most readers guess, these high profile cases are not isolated incidents. A quick Google search will point any reader to innumerable statistics indicating a disturbing prevalence of violence against women. One, in particular, really stands out for me:
One in three women will be a victim of physical or sexual assault at least one time in their lives.
Think about this statistic. Think about conversations you’ve had with your friends over the years. Think about your own experiences. Think of how many people you know who are the “one in three”. This really hits home.
One in three women will be a victim of physical or sexual assault at least one time in their lives.
As a mother of two young daughters, I find this statistic haunting. Today, as I picked up my little girl from preschool, I watched all the children running around and did a quick calculation. Statistically, five of those giggling, happy-go-lucky little girls will be a victim of physical or sexual assault at least one time in their lives. I looked at each of their faces. Which ones would be victims? Would my daughter be one? I’m not comfortable with the odds.
One in three women will be a victim of physical or sexual assault at least one time in their lives.
Are you a mother, father, grandparent, aunt, uncle, teacher or babysitter? Are you comfortable with this statistic? No?
Let’s listen to what this statistic is telling us: Violence against women is not someone else’s problem. It is a crisis affecting us ALL. Let us ALL make addressing this crisis a priority.
Let’s send these little preschoolers off to college without this haunting statistic.
I couldn’t agree more, Halane.
We are on the same wave length this morning! I just blogged about two of these cases:
http://syd4.blogspot.com/2009/.....r-has.html
Something has REALLY gone wrong, judging from the way Boston teens view the situation. I was astounded to learn that nearly half of them think Rihanna “had it coming.” And … that is SUPPOSED to be a Liberal/ Progressive area!!
I don’t know whether the increase in teen violence follows the rise of hip hop music, but it might be worth looking into. Tipper Gore did some research on music lyrics back in the 90s.
One in three women will be a victim of physical or sexual assault at least one time in their lives.
If an individual becomes acquainted with 9,000 people over the course of their life, half of them are women, and one third of the women have been physically, or sexually assaulted, then this individual has been acquainted with 1,500 victims over the course of their life. Perhaps physical and sexual assault of girls/women is so commonplace that it is simply accepted by the public at large.
The message about looking at a group of young girls and knowing that one third of them will be victims of physical and/or sexual assault in the future is powerful. Finding ways to get that message in front of the public at large on a repetitive basis might change public attitudes.
I confess that I was one of those three women. I never speak about the event to anyone, this is the first time that I am going public. It happened so many years ago, but I will tell all of you that it haunts me to this day. I was a single mom with two small children, dating a professional man who I really liked. When the violence happened I was not prepared nor did I understand that other women also suffered the same kind of assault. I was very ashamed and of course blamed my self. I only shared the event with my parents and never told my friends where the bruises on my face and body came from. I never saw that man again, but the memory of that event never left me.
I now have three wonderful grand daughters and to think that one of them could suffer as I did is totally unacceptable.
This epidemic must end. The women beaters need to be brought to trial and the public must rise out rage for it to stop.
Violence is not cool, teens must understand that, our culture does not support this assault on girls and they should not allow it to happen, and report any violence they see or receive to the authorities.
I have daughters too and thinking of them suffering any kind of violence is indeed haunting.
Parents and grandparents can definitely unite to speak out against VAW. Addressing this crisis should be on the top of all politicans’ lists.
We must do everything we can possible think to do to protect my two daughters. I can focus on raising strong, smart, capable women, but I need society’s help to push the rampant sexism and violence into the past.
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