One in Every Six

Every time I think that the world might be getting just a little bit more empathetic, a little more kind, a little more emotionally intelligent, I see some nonsense on social media that makes me realize otherwise.

Why, in this day and age, do people think that rape jokes are funny? If I see one more meme about Bill Cosby slipping women roofies, I may actually scream.

Every 98 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted. Every 98 seconds. Can you even fathom what that means? What that looks like? That's over 321,000 victims every year. 1 in every 6 women has been the victim of a rape, or attempted rape. Look around you. Look at your mother, your sister, your daughter, your female cousin. Look at the checker at your grocery store, your waitress, your hair dresser. One in every six. How many women do you know?

One in every six.

And yet we somehow think it's funny to make jokes, to laugh about celebrities who get convicted or accused of rape. I actually read someone's comment about a celebrity who is being accused of rape right now that said "He's a good actor, I don't think he did it." Are those your qualifying factors? Another comment said "He's too good looking - he doesn't have to rape women, they'll sleep with him willingly." I actually saw a joke post made about a singer being the next person to be accused of rape. It was a joke, and yet there was nothing funny about it.

Stop. Just stop. Stop and really listen to what you're saying.

One. In. Every. Six.

94% of women will experience post traumatic stress within the two weeks after being raped. 33% of women who are raped contemplate suicide... and 13% actually follow through with it. Is it still funny? Is it still a joke? Is it still just some funny meme to share and giggle about with your friends? Are you still laughing? Is it still funny when men brag, on camera, about the women they take advantage of? Are you laughing then? Are you laughing when your boss tells you it's just boys being boys when a male co-worker touches you in a sexual manner? Is it funny then?

ONE IN EVERY SIX.

Until you've cried in your room because you weren't strong enough to push him off of you, until you've had failed relationship after failed relationship because you just can't seem to trust a man again, until you've sat in your room alone in the dark and wondered why you weren't strong enough to just end your life right then and there, until you've beat yourself up for not being strong enough to press charges even though the police told you it would be a waste of your time, until you've replayed every moment in your head wondering why you weren't enough to stop it, until you've had an anxiety attack because you smelled the cologne he had on that night years later, until you've blamed yourself because he raped that other girl because you weren't strong enough to push it and put him behind bars... until then, you need to stop laughing. 

You wonder why women don't come forward right away, why we're scared, and pushed into darkness, into silence. You. You are why. You are why we have no voice, why the world thinks it's a joke, why men get away with it every single day.

One in every six needs you to help to be a part of the solution, and quit being a part of the problem.

Statistics from RAINN - Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.