gemmasakay :
Every time I realize how society has learned to place the blame on victims for what happened to them, I can’t help but feel enraged. All my life, I’ve been told I couldn’t do the same things my brothers could because I’m a woman, and in this world that means constantly having to protect yourself. As a little girl, I couldn’t go to sleepovers. As an adult woman, I’m not allowed to stay out too late. I learned to overanalyze everyone’s behavior, and as women, we’re condemned to always have our guard up in the world we live in.
As a Mexican, I can say this issue is often not treated with the seriousness it deserves. These statistics are not just numbers, they ARE people. People who were loved, people who loved others, people who were part of a community, people with hopes, dreams, and futures ahead of them.
And it breaks me every time I hear things like: “It was probably what she was wearing,” “Maybe she provoked it,” or “She shouldn’t have been there, she should’ve stayed home.” But the truth is, this happens at home too. These atrocious acts are often perpetrated by people the victims knew and trusted.
I cannot comprehend the lack of empathy surrounding this kind of grief. I don’t even want to imagine what it feels like to have someone suddenly taken away from your life, someone who should still be here, simply because another person felt entitled to take their life.
2026-05-12 05:34:43