The 12 days of action against violence against women remind us how abuse, sexual violence, intimidation and degrading comments are a growing scourge.
As the sad anniversary of the Polytechnique massacre approaches, we can only be saddened by the state of affairs in terms of violence against women.
Men above all
The first reflex, when we want to prevent abuse and aggression, is to teach little girls to be wary of mean men.
Don’t go out too late. Don’t go home alone. Don’t leave your drink unattended. Don’t dress too short. Don’t give your phone number to strangers. Beware of guys who are too nice. Don’t be too enterprising.
Meanwhile, so little is being done to build men who will refuse to accept that their fellow human beings are predators.
However, the vast majority of sexual assaults are committed by men. The vast majority of victims are women.
Yes, many men are allies, defenders of women’s rights and completely decent humans who do not behave like animals, but we still hear too little of their voices to denounce the words and actions of their degenerate colleagues.
“Not all aggressors”
There are many more of them who defend their individual virtue and proclaim loudly and clearly that all men are not to be put in the same boat as they cry scandal when a woman is terrorized, objectified, threatened, attacked or killed.
Let us dream of the day when abusers will be ostracized, judged and humiliated.
Let’s dream of a day when our society and the men who are part of it will point out the behavior of their colleagues who attack women instead of trying to distance themselves from it as if that was the priority.
