Violence Against Women

Sitting in my window catching up on my reading and I find myself so totally, so utterly disgusted, that I could sit here and cry. I’m reading the Huffington Post and found this column about a sixteen year old gurl in Turkey buried alive for talking to boys. She was literally buried alive by her father. Her hands were tied behind her back and soil was found in her lungs. Buried alive in the family garden under a chicken pen. What kind of pathetic monster called a human being could do something like that? Bury your own daughter alive. An 'honor killing'. Its nice to know there is a term for anything in this world we live in. Words just can’t describe the revulsion I feel right now.

HuffingtonPost

The International Violence Against Women Act, a bipartisan effort by the United States to address violence against women globally, was introduced in the US Senate last week. It is sponsored by John Kerry along with three other democrats and three republicans. For the first time violence against women would become an official part of US foreign policy. Polls show 82% of those polled support the bill. One has to wonder about the other 18%. Maybe something good can get done in Washington for a change. Change.org has an online petition to sign to show congress your support for the bill.

Change.org

Suddenly, in a city of millions, I need to be alone. I need a walk.

tuneage

[Statistics from a World Bank, United Nations, and World Health Organization studies

• Violence causes more death and disability worldwide amongst women aged 15-44 than war, cancer, malaria or traffic accident.

• At least one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime.

• It is estimated that one in every five women faces some form of violence during her lifetime.

• The victims in today’s armed conflicts are far more likely to be civilians than soldiers. Some 70% of the casualties in recent conflicts have been non-combatants most of them women and children.

• At least 60 million girls who would otherwise be expected to be alive are "missing" from various populations, mostly in Asia, as a result of sex-selective abortions, infanticide or neglect

• So-called "honour killings" take the lives of thousands of young women every year, mainly in North Africa, Western Asia and parts of South Asia.]