End the Silence Campaign

A few weeks ago, our region was shocked by the brutal murder of three women and the wounding of nine others at an LA Fitness Center in Collier, PA. There are few who would disagree that a heinous crime like this, motivated by an intense hatred of one gender, is unforgivable. However, focusing on single events like these can blindside us from the reality that we live in – the reality that across our country, thousands of women fall victim to violence every single day.

In instances of extreme tragedy, communities can unite – with help from the media and our community leaders – to demand justice for victims of violence. And this is both justified and absolutely necessary. But let’s not forget about the victims that suffer in silence. Every day, women are beaten, abused, assaulted, raped – all in silence and with little hope of justice. Let’s use this tragedy as an opportunity. An opportunity to unite as citizens and demand that violence against women be ended for good.

Click below to read yesterday’s op-ed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09236/992811-109.stm

And keep checking back to the site! Changes are underway!

A friend mentioned how important it is to talk about the very real problem of rape and sexual assault in the military. A few months ago, I wrote a blog entry about this problem when my sister showed me an article on BBC. Here is the link to the article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8005198.stm

This is something that we need to talk about, especially since so many of our men and women are serving their country right now. That’s all I have to say for now, but I will return to this topic in the future.

This passage stuck out to me in Jennifer’s story:

“I made some poor decisions, but I am not to blame. When I was going through training at the East Texas Crisis Center I was told something that I repeat to myself every time I start to mentally play the “If only I’d…” game (which I still play to this day) and that is: ‘Just because you leave your door unlocked, doesn’t give someone the right to come in and steal your things.’ “

So many of us point to each of our actions that came before our sexual assault, trying to come up with a logical reason for what happened. We say “If only I didn’t have that last drink,” “If only I didn’t let myself trust him,” “If only I hadn’t kissed him,” “If only I fought back harder,” and so on until our brains are exhausted.

Jennifer’s words truly reveal the error in this thought pattern. Rape is not a punishment for poor judgment. Rape is not a punishment for drinking too much. Rape is not a punishment for kissing. Rape is not a punishment for trusting.

We are not to blame.

Women still comprise only a small percentage of military troops, about 1 out of 10 in Iraq. In a new book titled The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq, Helen Benedict interviews 40 women who served in Iraq.

Of the 40 interviewed, Ms. Benedict discovered that 28 were raped, sexually assaulted, or sexually harassed while serving their country.

In its 2009 annual report, the Department of Defense estimates that 90% of military sexual assaults are never reported.

Now that the government has acknowledged this disgrace, will anything be done to protect these brave women who risk their lives for the love of a country that is ignoring them? We can only hope.

Read the article on BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8005198.stm

“Every 2 minutes, another American is sexually assaulted. 1 in 6 women & 1 in 33 men will be victims of sexual assault or rape in their lifetime. This is an issue that affects us all.” (www.rainn.org)

As much as we would all like to believe that we are safe from rape and sexual violence, we are not. Most people are uneducated about the reality of rape.
Whether we would like to believe it or not, it is a sad reality that affects you, your friends, and your family.

Check out www.rainn.org to learn more about rape facts, statistics, and common misconceptions. Also, check this site in a few days for a page on rape myths and other important information – it’s coming soon!

So if this is such a big problem, what should we do?

I believe the first thing to do is TALK, TALK and then TALK some more. When an issue is condemned to silence, it grows like a virus ignored, spreading across our community and infecting everyone. It is time to end the silence and start talking, time to open up the lines of communication that have been quiet for too long.

It is time for you to SPEAK.