Domestic Violence Feeds on Silence

There were many tragic sexual assults covered in Vermont papers the last few years and some of these have finally drawn enough attention that Vermont Legislation is thinking of upping the punishment for thoes who commit sexual assult crimes. It is too often that I read about a sexual assult and the man whom commited the crime has a long history of sexual violence. What does it take to protect women and children in this country from domestic assults.

As women we bear the next generation, as women we create you. As men, not all men, we neglect to see women as human beings sometimes and treat them as objects of desire. As men and women we portray women as sex objects, toys, playmates, dirty girls, a product to gain wealth and fame. And it breaks my heart to think of the women in third world contries that are seen as lower than this even. Imagine the numbers of women each year in the world striped of their confidence, striped of their lust, raped of their trust in friends, family and strangers that try to break them dowm.

"Criminal Victimization, 2007 finds that there were 248,300 rapes/sexual assaults in the U.S. in 2007, up from 190,600 in 2005. Women were more likely than men to be victims of rape or sexual assault, with females ages 20 to 24 at highest risk, followed by those ages 16 to 19. In 2007, just 42 percent of rapes or sexual assaults were reported to police. The data are based on the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) – one of the government’s primary crime data collection tools."

This info from the FVPF's News and Tips for the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assult Communities

December 23, 2007, Vol. 14, Issue 18

Step back and imagine how strong women are because they put up with the abuse they are handed, they survive the sex trade, they still live with the man that beats them, they perform day after day without letting the children down, they hold it all inside and keep smiling on the outside. Look how strong you are women, look how much you can handle, look for help, look out to lend a hand to your sisters, look beyond judgement, look at the facts and KNOW YOU ARE NOT ALONE! xoxoxoxo