my contribution to No Pity, No Shame, No Silence.
I've been reading and sort of following the tales of friends and some of thier friends... I am greatly disturbed and quite frankly enraged by what I've been reading. Please do NOT mistake my rage for those that have suffered, if you think I am, you're missing a whole lot. I am disturbed and enraged that the men, the true men in thier lives have not spoken up. Sexual violence and sexual molestation are not female-only problems. We live with, love, care for and are friends with the people who have suffered and survived. Why is it that WE as men have not come forth to be heard that we will not tolerate this type of behavior? Why do we sit idley and silently by as men continue to perpetrate the grotesque lionshare of these crimes? We can probably do more than any one else in preventing this by being witnesses and not letting other men continue to attatch even the slightest notion of a stigma in terms of reporting and prosecuting the offenders.
I am a man, I swear that I will never be silent again.
Edit
some of you may be wondering why I'm so adamant about all this. I get worked up about this sort of thing, because I nearly became one of those abusive people. If it weren't for my friends (male and female) and family stepping in, I'd have been an abusive husband. There's more to the story than that, but I'll speak privately to anyone that wishes to ask.
I am a man, I swear that I will never be silent again.
Edit
some of you may be wondering why I'm so adamant about all this. I get worked up about this sort of thing, because I nearly became one of those abusive people. If it weren't for my friends (male and female) and family stepping in, I'd have been an abusive husband. There's more to the story than that, but I'll speak privately to anyone that wishes to ask.