And Still I Rise

I had no words when on Sept 13th George Franklyn gunned down two women one of whom was his wife and left two young men also nursing injuries. At least nothing that didn't sound trite or contrived. So I sat quietly and listened to the voices around me relay a tale of horror. An all too familiar tale where the players differ but the script remains unchanged. Women are increasingly under attack with no let up in sight.

I made several attempts to write on the events but once more words failed me.So instead I shed tears for the victims and all the nameless,faceless women for whom violence is a part of their lives. This morning I woke to the news that 83 yr old Marion John was raped and killed. Something has to be seriously wrong with our society when old women are targeted for violence. If we agree that rape is more about dominance than sex then how do I wrap mind around the rape of an old woman? What kind of man seeks to exert dominance over a woman whose advanced age has already made her helpless? Is it even necessary to violate her to prove some point?

I don't have the answers so I am wondering how could women protect themselves. My friend Debra Providence put it nicely when she said " it's open season on women it seems and sometimes the coppers are just too far away to hear you scream". I would go a little further and add those close to us often do not hear our cries silent or otherwise either. So where does that leave us? My friends have offered up ideas ranging from self defense classes to acquiring weapons. Yet while this is real talk we know that the underlying issues driving this violence remain unaddressed. And so the killings and maimings continue. I am officially scared.