Women are brutally murdered in Guatemala,
Thrown in the gutter and the authorities
Don’t investigate, shrug as if to say well,
It’s only a woman and yes, it is happening now.
Women can be raped by their husbands,
The law says so, in Nigeria, Morocco
Saudi Arabia, so many other places you visit.
It’s only a woman and yes, it is happening now.
Women are married before they are women.
Forced; it is a word filled with fists and bruises
And it is not a historical event. She is sobbing but
It’s only a woman and yes, it is happening now.
Women must be cleansed of their sexual parts,
Pass me that newborn or that young girl, give me
My blunt knife, the clitoris is dangerous; she screams
But it’s only a woman,
And yes, it is happening now.
I don't know if this statistic is still true (it certainly was a couple of years ago): 84% of the women in Pakistan's jails were rape victims, imprisoned for their "adultery". Still - they're giving the vote in local elections to women in Saudi Arabia, although they're still not allowed to drive there. Women only got the vote in Switzerland in 1971.
ReplyDeleteInteresting stats, it's all so damn shocking when you realise how far some countries have to go to make it safe and equal for the women living there.
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