The festive season is a period when we all want to relax, and have fun with family and friends.
Many have received their 13th cheque and are ready to splurge.
This is understandable because we have all spent the year working hard and all we want to do is let our hair down.
This is the time when many go through life-changing experiences which they later regret.
We let our guard down and don’t really consider both sides of our decisions.
During this period we experience an increase in road vehicle accidents, young women are raped and criminal activities reach an alarming rate.
In this week’s column I would like to reach out to young women and plead with them to be extra careful and safe this festive season.
There is nothing as heartbreaking as being called to a crime scene and seeing the body of a young woman lying helplessly dead, or receiving news that a young girl was raped on her way home from a local club in the early hours of the morning.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying you shouldn’t go out to have fun but always exercise caution.
Make sure you are in the company of friends, consume what you can handle and do not pass out at the club.
Don’t take drinks from strangers because they can be poisoned.
There are men who go out to target women who are weak, vulnerable and are unable to consent to anything while drunk.
Some would even go to great lengths of buying you alcohol and expecting sexual favours afterwards – something you might not be ready to do without being able to ask for the use of protection.
Imagine waking up the following morning in a house you are not familiar with, with someone you have never met before and you cannot remember what happened the previous night.
Organise transport if you plan to leave in the early hours of the morning because the notion that we will cross that bridge when we get there, can be dangerous.
I hope and pray that you will be safe this festive season and exercise caution at all times.
Always remember the festive season is only for a few weeks, it also comes and goes every year and you have your life ahead of you.
The decisions you make today will impact your future, so be responsible.
