Women’s Right Month

by-Prisha Parajuli

(Parental Discretion advised)

What has happened to our society today? Women are scared to walk alone on the street at night, they get harassed sexually. I have one question, has any man ever been catcalled or had to walk with his keys in his hand at night as a self defense mechanism? Sarah Everard was walking home one night after visiting a friend. She was on the phone with her boyfriend and she was doing the things women are told to do to help keep them safe. Yet she still was kidnapped and murdered. A 48 year old police officer was arrested, and charged for kidnapping and murder. But, this still doesn’t change anything. Aren’t police officers supposed to keep people safe? How are we, as a society, supposed feel safe if police officers are kidnapping and murdering innocent women? 

Did you know that 97% of women in the world had been sexually harassed?  Sexual harassment is when you get unwanted verbal or physical attention. It can be things as simple as someone making comments about your body, or someone touching you. Sexual assault is a similar thing except sexual assault is physical behavior without the other persons consent. Sexual assault can happen from such a young age, but it doesn’t matter which age it happened to you, it is just as traumatizing. In 2003, 9 out 10 rape victims were females. Don’t get me wrong, men also get sexually harassed and assaulted, but it’s a fewer chance. In the same year, 2003 it was a 1 in 10 chance that a male was raped. 15% of of sexual assault and rape victims are under the age of 12. Just think about that for a second. A 40 year old man raping a child. That’s what our society has turned into. 34.2% of the attackers were family members, and 58.7% were people we thought were our friends, people we trusted. And people have the audacity to ask why women have a hard time trusting people. About 93% of the victims know their attacker, but 60% of rapes or assaults are not reported to law enforcements. But if they are reported, then there is a 50.8% chance that police officers will actually arrest the attacker. As a punishment, 6% of rapists get only a day in jail. Women don’t come forward about what’s happened to them because of the guilt or embarrassment that they feel. But they should never feel embarrassed or guilty about what’s happened to them. They should never feel as though they were the problem, or it was their fault. Because it wasn’t their fault.

Instead of protecting your son or daughter, educate them on what’s right and what’s wrong. Change this society, make it a safe place for everybody.