This year has almost come to and end and has ended with the horrible, unimaginable gang rape and murder of a 23 year old woman in India. It makes me really sad and I really don't know what, if anything, I can do about it.
My daughter is 20 years old and attends a major university. Before we dropped her on the doorstep of this university we all went through a campus police "safety" presentation on basic principles of how to "avoid" unsafe situations on campus. Instead of teaching women how to "avoid" being raped, when are we going to teach men "not to rape?"
The thought did pop in my head that all women around the globe should for a period of time go on strike. No sex for any man on the planet in support of the death of this student in India. We need to make a statement.
Every 2 minutes in the U.S. someone (both men and women) is sexually assaulted. Every year there are about 207,000 victims of sexual assault. 54% of sexual assaults are not reported to police and 97% of rapists never spend a day in jail. That's right, read that again...97% NEVER see jail.
Who are rapists? 2/3 know their victims and 38% are "friends or acquaintances" of the victim. He is an average age of 31 years old, probably white, more than likely a serial criminal rather than a serial rapist.
This year in the U.S. rape was a part of our national discussion. Some of our political leaders spoke about rape as a casual way for a woman to get pregnant. If a woman does get pregnant as a result and does choose to have the baby, in 31 of our 50 states the rapist can sue for custody of the child that was conceived as a consequence of the rape. Can you imagine seeing your rapist pick up your child every other weekend?
This year some political leaders have talked about "degrees" of rape. I wonder what "degree" of rape was the gang rape in India. Legitimate, Mr. Akin? Six men violently raping you and then raping you with an iron bar, what degree of rape is that? Is that "forcible rape" Mr. King? How about using GHB to drug your victim first, what degree of rape is that? Does that make "some girls rape easy," Mr. Rivard?
Men who don't rape, we need your help. You need to rise up and demand that men not rape women. You need to make it a priority to protect us from men who rape. There were many men on that bus in India, the six men who raped and murdered this woman, her male friend who was beaten and thrown off the bus for dead, and the bus driver, who drove around the city for hours while this assault continued.
Women are to be loved, honored and cherished. We are the vessels of humanity and bring children into this world. We are loving, devoted companions. We are deserving of the sanctity of our sexuality and should be able to give it with love and respect.