This Atrocity Ends Here

It is her core-her being- her most private self-her pride-her DIGNITY

When you violate it you have stripped away her dignity, self confidence, pride & well-being

And so with a warped mind, a sadistic spirit that derives pleasure from her pain

He chooses to target it- pushing the dagger into her fresh wound

Society has normalised it-it happens, men shall be men & shall be men

They blame her-she wanted it or she looked for it, her skirt was too short

Why was she walking alone at night?

Was he not her boyfriend & what was she doing with him alone in a closed space?

They make excuses for him-mothers, sisters, brothers, aunts

If she speaks up, they label her

If she does not speak out, she dies inside

She questions if maybe, just maybe-she might have gotten what she deserves

She feels unworthy, dirty, violated – EMPTY

And why does she go through this? Because she is a woman!

Who understands what it means to walk with constant caution?

To be ever vigilant for your safety–

On your way to work, to school, in your office, even in your own home

And yet this is the experience of half the population of the world – DAILY

But repeatedly this experience is, IS belittled? Overlooked?

Underestimated? Misunderstood? Misrepresented? Sidelined?

Whichever one it is, not enough has been done to address it for the pervasive vice it is

We, the women of this world, deserve to live without fear

Fear of death, of terror, of hate and hate speech

Of violence and all other threats to our physical and mental well being

The world needs to understand that—;

Rape IS NOT about sex

Rape IS NOT about a desperate man dealing with constant deprivation of sex

Rape IS NOT illegitimate sex; hence justifying the marriage of girls to their rapists to retroactively legitimise the act is simply cuckoo

Rape HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH a wife reaching menopause, hence justifying a husband pouncing on his child

Rape IS about power and domination; hence as women we need to claim back our power

Rape IS a crime; and as women we must nail the perpetrators

Rape IS an attack on the physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual and personal identities of the victim,

And for this reason I AM RISING TO SAY –

 

This atrocity ends here!!!

 

About Me:

I am a 27 year old woman, born and raised in a Christian family in Zimbabwe. I am a lawyer by profession, a human rights advocate by calling and a hopeless romantic at heart.

I have worked with different groupings including youths, orphans, women (politicians, activists, refugees, internally displaced), refugees in general and internally displaced persons in the span of my rather short career. I have been told I have a way with words.

Indeed, I have been writing for ages but all my writings are on my PC. I am not the most gifted person when it comes to academic expression even though I convinced the assessors of my LLM thesis it was worth a passing mark. I guess I might be gifted after all. I have decided to write and share with the rest of the world my musings, rambling, ranting and raving and I sure hope you will enjoy it.

MaDube, World Pulse