3,439,427,037

Location

I remember as a young girl,

Mother would say don’t go out before you get abducted from some mysterious van

Don’t play with the boys or they will use you for their self gain

 

In the 6th grade,

A friend of mine, she was young and beautiful and innocent

She was raped in her sleep during a break in,

but she was also raped of her innocence.

She no longer understood what is the meaning of home anymore.

 

Rape culture.

Women are being foreseen as scapegoats for

the clothes they wore, the alcohol they consumed, the people they knew.

 

Rape culture.

The lack of justice that need to be justified,

instead of another “he said, she said”

Because rape isn’t always a man and a woman,

but a predator versus its prey

its aggressor versus a victim

 

Rape culture,

A woman’s chance of being raped is from 1 to 6

In this world, there are 3,439,427,037 women alone,

Yet only less than 20% of rape cases are being reported,

and people wonder why.

 

It could be because they are filled with ignominy and self disgust,

that no alcohol nor drug can cure,

their state of mind is fragmented,

the loss of a place once called home is no longer,

the once eerie night or the innocence of broad daylight was mistaken.

 

It could be the lack of support from the people they most cherished,

friends and even family are drenched with disgust,

the people that once were there left,

because they are stuck in these beliefs.

If you didn’t dress that way, it wouldn’t have occurred.

If you didn’t hang out with the wrong people, it wouldn’t have occurred,

If you didn’t leave at that time, it wouldn’t have occurred.

 

Rape culture,

We are taught that we, as women, are asking to be rape,

because we are seen as a sex icon,

because we are seen as inferior.

When in reality, people should know not to rape.

 

No longer should we bury our heads in the sand,

because we aren’t victims but survivors,

We should not be fearful,

because without women, there wouldn’t be a future.

We are not alone.

We are mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmas, and nieces.

We are beautiful, strong, and independent.

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