Violence against women is a modern vice in all subservient communities. Gender inequality and patriarchy intersect with other oppressive systems such as cultural norms resulting in unique experiences of oppression and privileges. Nonetheless, women are invariably subject to discrimination. Intersectionality demystifies that victims are discriminated based on their race, disability status, sexuality, class or gender influencing their marginalization and oppression. The inconvenient truth is that no one’s experience is identical to another due to the variability of intersecting discrimination. A structural problem deeply etched in unequal power relations between men and women.
The Corona Virus Pandemic has intensified one of the most severe forms of domestic violence. Throughout the world, Intimate Partner Violence has soared calling attention to modern-day forms of abuse. I would be remiss not to mention the fact that this perturbs me. When I turn to my left, I see inconsolable pain in beggars’ eyes, to my right; I witness a gruesome fatal accident. As I skim through the newspaper, in bold lies the story of a vilely slain lady by her lover. Over the radio waves, I perceive the distress call of a mother for her lost child. In seclusion, I give ear to wails of inexpressible grief; a father has ruthlessly molested and butchered his daughter. A Choking sob with muffled whimpers engulfs my heart at the realization that I too well belong to this ruin. Like a perfectly baked cake, our society is slowly crumbling with uncertainties pushing many to the wall.
I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. Inundated by the curfew. Outside help is no longer an option. The weight of his footsteps becomes audible in the background. Oh no! I have just realized that the bed barely shields our silhouette, a silly attempt. “How was my son’s bed supposed to conceal us from this man?” My kids are petrified, my youngest just wet her pants, and she is getting hysterical. The door flies open and he clumsily trips on a shoe, hitting the floor. I think he has passed out, yuck! He reeks of stale alcohol. I have to move fast. I instantly take hold of my kids and dash out the open door. I have decided to do anything to get help, even if I have to scream my lungs out, so be it. Our lives are at risk. I cannot afford to spend tonight in this hellhole.
Intimate partner violence is behaviour by an intimate partner that causes physical, sexual or psychological harm. This includes but does not limit marital rape, gaslighting or incest. Over the years, cultural stereotypes have applauded and excused this form of violence as a form of love. With many women esteeming violent aggressive behaviours. Normalizing this abnormality to the point of feeling less loved and dejected when their partners are not aggressive.
As I fumble in my handbag, looking for my other phone, I wonder why I cannot seem to locate what I am looking for when in need. It is absurd how danger now lurks in my house. Gasping, my daughter is tightly holding onto my leg while my son stares blankly up the stairs. He keeps asking me if daddy is okay, but I am not in the right mind to answer. My eyes are sore, I have been crying. He had the nerve to hit me across the face in front of our kids! Aha! There it is, under a chair, now I can focus on getting outside help. With no outside contact, my phone broke during our altercation, our lives were in danger.
The World is no longer a haven for the innocent, but a den of savage wolves. Fear and greed transpire into ill-gotten gains. Graft, the opium of our leaders. Impunity its drive. Gone are the days when people cared. Fathers have turned on their daughter, mothers on their sons and young men on their wives. Teenage boys into extreme radicalization, dealing and abusing drugs as they lust after mammon. Ladies into older men with deep pockets “slaying” their way into lucre, shattering families. Divorce the ultimatum of marriages. A sacred institution ensnared by grandiosity. What has become of this world? Was this our society before the turn of the decade?
Whilst gender-based violence occurs in all spheres of life, the family is the place where women experience the most violence. WHO estimates nearly 30% of all women worldwide who have ever been in relationships have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner and other family members. Families ought to be safe spaces where rights are upheld. However, they have turned into boxing arenas and slaughterhouses with headlines displaying the consequences of a savage unspoken vice.
Appalling statistics have recently caused an uproar on all media platforms. Teenage pregnancies are spiraling. Children are having children! When asked, a teenager argued that her parents’ no longer provide for her. She, at only sixteen years, has to find unavailable paid labour. The pandemic has amplified everything in its wake. Our girls are on the verge of despair. Let us arise and protect our children. It is overwhelming, but lives are at stake. Our children are our future and lifeline. Failure is but a pimple upon the face of humanity.
Published By Kathy Njuguna
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.
