Old Age Day by Day June 22, 2013

Two days ago both newspapers had an article on the fact that world wide one in three women will be physically or sexually abused or both.  I can't get it out of my head.  I am going to do something about this, again.  I'm going to write letters to the editors, and think of other actions to take.  All the years I worked in safehouses, I thought the situation was getting better, but it really hasn't.  Yes, police are more informed and proactive, as well as DA offices, and more people are prosecuted, but not enough to be any kind of deterrent.  Girls live in fear.  Women live in fear.  It's the elephant in the room, and no one speaks of it.  Our granddaughters are growing up with the same implicit threat that we faced.  It's not acceptable.  Women's rights ought to be the top priority in all the world.  They are the mothers of us all, and their behavior is modified and altered by fear.  I was a victim, and despite all my efforts in therapy and elsewhere, I cannot honestly say I have overcome the fear.  Because it's so much bigger than the person who abused me.  I don't take risks.  I don't walk out alone at night, ever.  And this country is one of the most liberal, but it is one of the most violent, and often the guns and knives and physical power of men are weapons against us.  It has to stop.  What could we be if we were truly free of this threat hanging over our heads?  We would speak up more, we would teach our children to speak up.  What if we felt safe?  How would that world look?  I'd like to know.