DEAR Editor,-
I write this letter in pain and anger at what I have seen and heard. One just has to open The Herald every week.
August is still women’s month, yet I have heard of a six-year-old being buried after he was hacked to death trying to protect his mother from alleged rapists. I have heard of a 12-year-old lying on the floor, pretending to be dead when gunshots were fired at him by his own father – after he killed the child’s mother. I have heard of a two-year-old watching her mom and brother die at the hands of her father, before turning on her and smashing her against the wall.
Oh what have we, as adults, become?
I have heard women telling each other to hold on to abusive relationships in the hope that things will change. Today many lay in comas, hundreds are left with physical and emotional scars after hoping the abuse would come to an end.
Statistics show that once a man abuses a woman, it is rare that the situation ever changes for the better.
I read that a teacher videotaped his disgusting activities involving a 13-year-old pupil, a pupil who is supposed to gain knowledge from him. On social media platforms, people are listing their contact numbers just to watch the video. Isn’t circulating child pornography a crime?
We live in a society where it is okay for a woman to be abused, but not okay for them to speak out? Should they dare speak out, they are met with questions from a sick society; like – what she was wearing? Why was she there anyway?
To those people who ask those questions: What does it matter. Doesn’t ‘no’ mean no?
Daily, women in boardrooms are told to shut up or dismissed with remarks like ‘what do they know?’ and ‘they probably slept their way up to the top’. Oh what has our society become?
The things I see, the inhumane crimes I hear about, the terrible events that unfold before my very eyes make me wonder if bringing an innocent child into this world is worth it? Is it fair to expose more children to such inhumane actions exacted by adult human beings? Will they ever be safe or will they also end up as victims of such hideous crimes.
To all women – August is still ‘women’s month’. Speak out against any kind of abuse and speak out every day before it is too late and you end up just another statistic.
PROUD TO BE A WOMAN
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram
For news straight to your phone, add us on BBM 58F3D7A7 or WhatsApp 082 421 6033
