PROTEST, BASTA YA!
This morning I read the tragic news of the death of a women in Spain at the hands of her ex partner. I feel for the victim’s family and friends and yet again hope that their suffering at this senseless crime will not be repeated. However the sad reality is that domestic violence is a fact of daily life for too many women throughout the world and the number of deaths of women caused by their current or ex partners shows no sign of abating. A link to a article from the Guardian at the end of this page shows this is a problem in British sociey as well as Spanish and worldwide.
We are all shocked and horrified by every such death but it
is so common place it becomes a background noise to the rolling news we consume
every day. This year 45 women have been killed in Spain. Their families,
communities, local politicians all react and Governements plan interventions and
promise new action but something major now needs to be done in our societies to
change the culture in which men are able to harm women as an act of vengence or
control. Mireia Molla, a Valencian regional ‘diputada’ said this morning ‘Basta
ya!’, a Spanish expression of outrage meaning ‘enough already’. It is time for
change and only a society united in the desire for such change can bring it
about. It needs political will, zero tolerance for controlling attitudes and
harrasment, education on gender equality from primary age with special emphasis
on relationships in teenage years, money to finance programmes to protect women
and their families, easy access to early intervention but above all a concious
howl of rage throughout society, from our women and men, our youth, in our
workplace, in our homes, schools, to our elders that this is intolerable.
I have given much thought whether it is appropriate on this
sad day to reproduce a poem I wrote in 2005. It was written in anger, a
response to the casual way a women’s death was reported that day, when 62 women
in Spain had already lost their lives, murdered by their men. In 12 years
nothing has changed. I think all methods of protest are needed and if this poem
on a site normally hosting lighter subject matter brings the horror of domestic
violence to the attention of more people, makes anyone think for a minute about
the change we need to inspire in our societies, its is worthwhile posting. I
share this poem with respect for all the women and families who have suffered
or are living with the consequences of gender violence.
I am renaming this poem BASTA YA!
BASTA YA! (2005)
Sixty two so far this year,
still three weeks remain.
Sixty two Spanish women dead,
strangled, stabbed, shot,
battered, burned by their men.
Celebrity chatter brutally
broken by today’s grim statistic.
Housebound voyeurs’ collective
shudder, numbing numbers,
anger, impotence, despair.
Love born hopeful, trusting,
curdled, soured, twisted,
dead as the bodies piling
up to be grieved, chilling cap
of iceberg of suffering.
Young men, old men, lovers,
rich men, poor men, fathers,
final act of drawn out torture or
fatal snap of rejected rage.
‘If I can’t have you no one will.’
What love wipes out life in jealous fury?
What price paid for women’s right
to leave and live in peace?
What deathly toll may we yet reach?
Sisters beware; love is not to die for.
© 2017 Jacqueline Claire
Knight. All rights reserved.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/dec/07/men-killed-900-women-six-years-england-wales-figures-show
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