A few years ago early on a Friday morning I was at home w ith
our housekeeper. It was a very ordinary morning until I heard a noise in the house. It turned out to be a burglar, he had taken our housekeeper by surprise.
He was armed with nothing but a hammer and constantly reminded us what damage he was capable of doing if we didn’t do as we were told.
The whole drama lasted about an hour and a half and at the end of it all he only got away with my bank card and my father’s gun. Before he left though, he took our housekeeper to the back of the garden and sexually assaulted her.
In all the months and years since then, the perpetrator was never caught. I never expected he would be, to be quite honest. So you deal with it, put it behind you and go on with your life.
Recently a very high ranking official in our government was accused of raping a woman he has known for years. Subsequently a court case followed, this court case still continues as I write.
The high ranking official is enjoying tremendous support from his followers, while the victims’ face appears on cardboards, cardboards burnt in the streets by supporters of the government official.
This country of mine has a long way to go concerning equal rights. Not just for the disabled, but for women as well. Of course women’s groups and organizations are up in arms because of the treatment of the victim; however this has not stopped her reputation from being ruined.
When a woman is treated in such a manner, why would women in the future ever consider going through the same ordeal? Would they consider it better to remain quiet after being raped, rather than being victimized by a sexist, male society?
Such court cases are often embarrassing and exhausting for the victim and her family, sometimes seeking justice is just not worth it.
It is sad that we live in a world where one must still fight for rights that should’ve been there automatically. Men may feel superior to women because of their historical dominance, because of strength and size.
Able people may feel superior to the disabled because of preconceived ideas, because they may feel disabled people to be incapable of reason and intellect.
But believing oneself to be superior to another does not make it so. If the men, and the able, of the world do not want to budge from their position of self bestowed dominance, it falls on the shoulders of women and the disabled to go beyond what is expected and achieve the extraordinary. However unfair this may seem at times.