And Still I Rise

Judging from the reports in the newspapers and the talk shows it appears as if incidents of rape are on the increase. However, I want to tell those women who come on the airwaves and attempt to lay the blame on scantily dressed women how wrong they are. Ladies, rape is an act of violence and a power trip. It has little to do with the desirability of the women or the need for sex.

It matters not the type of clothes you wear and to even speak of that is taking away the blame from the guilty and shifting it to the victim. That's wrong ladies,so very wrong. I won't deny that at times some women mode of dress cause me to raise my eyebrows but I have never, ever thought that they were begging to get raped. Do I need to remind my Vincentian sisters of the rapes perpetrated on the elderly women and on the children of our land? Were they dressing provocatively as well and flaunting their stuff to these poor helpless men? I think not.

Let's not unwittingly or otherwise give the victim another cross to bear please. Put the blame squarely where it lies and quit with the excuses. Ladies, secure your homes properly especially if you live alone, avoid being in unsafe places and try as much as possible to go out in groups. These are some of the common sense things you can do to protect yourselves in this climate of heightened violence. Clothing is the least of it.