She was brave, strong, smart and courageous
I spent most of today thinking, reading and working on a story. After dinner I checked the news to catch up on what's going on in the world. One dead and three wounded in a terrorist shooting in Copenhagen, Twitter practically screamed at me. It seems likely that I'll write more about that, however first I want to write about another attack, this one in Turkey.
A 20-year old Turkish woman named Özgecan Aslan was buried today. According to Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News she'd been missing for two days, last seen by a friend while on a bus travelling home from university. Her burned body was found Friday in a riverbed near Tarsus disctrict in Mersin province.
"Three suspects have been detained for stabbing Aslan to death and later burning her remains. According to their testimonies, the woman was killed when she fought back a rape attempt by the driver of the minibus she took to go home."
Assaulted, almost raped and stabbed to death. What must this poor girl's last minutes have been like? She died because a man chose to hurt her, because he consciously decided he wanted to abuse her, to treat her as a thing to be used and discarded, to demean her. She fought back, she refused to submit to rape and for that he killed her. He chose to treat her as an object instead of a person. And when she proved that she was not a thing but a thinking and feeling human being, he stabbed her with a knife.
Özgecan was brave - she fought back.
Özgecan was strong - she didn't panic.
Özgecan was smart - she travelled with pepper spray.
Özgecan was courageous - she did not submit to rape.
Özgecan was a young woman, her whole life in front of her. She was a student at university, she had friends and family members who loved her, who will continue to do so. She will me missed by many and remembered by many more.
I want to hug Özgecan's family and friends, want to offer some semblance of comfort, let them know that people around the world share in their pain, that *I* share in their pain. I want to let them know that the death of their beloved Özgecan caused ripples around the world, that it caused tears across a continent and the entire world.
I can't do anything for Özgecan now but pray - I can't help her or protect her or fight with her. I can't tell her to be brave or strong, can't tell her how much it hurts me that she died at the hands of a stranger who cared more about his own urges than about her life and her future. I am a woman too, I know what it is like to be watchful and prepared, to evaluate every situation, to expect the worst from other human beings simply because they are bigger or stronger or think the whole world is theirs to do with as they please.
RT News reports that "Five women are killed in Turkey every day, most of them by their husbands, according to Yasemin Yucel, the deputy chairwoman of the Tarsus branch of the Education Personnel Union."
I don't need a deputy chairwoman or a newspaper to tell me that women are assaulted, attacked, abused and raped daily around the world. It is a reality every woman lives with every day - the knowledge that you might be the next target. It is not restricted to a country, region, language, ethnicity, culture or religion. It happens all over the world, in all cultures and in all religions. It happens everywhere and could happen to anyone. I only wish that somehow I could have done something to save Özgecan Aslan or to help her, to stop it from happening to her.
A 20-year old Turkish woman named Özgecan Aslan was buried today. According to Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News she'd been missing for two days, last seen by a friend while on a bus travelling home from university. Her burned body was found Friday in a riverbed near Tarsus disctrict in Mersin province.
"Three suspects have been detained for stabbing Aslan to death and later burning her remains. According to their testimonies, the woman was killed when she fought back a rape attempt by the driver of the minibus she took to go home."
Assaulted, almost raped and stabbed to death. What must this poor girl's last minutes have been like? She died because a man chose to hurt her, because he consciously decided he wanted to abuse her, to treat her as a thing to be used and discarded, to demean her. She fought back, she refused to submit to rape and for that he killed her. He chose to treat her as an object instead of a person. And when she proved that she was not a thing but a thinking and feeling human being, he stabbed her with a knife.
Özgecan was brave - she fought back.
Özgecan was strong - she didn't panic.
Özgecan was smart - she travelled with pepper spray.
Özgecan was courageous - she did not submit to rape.
Özgecan was a young woman, her whole life in front of her. She was a student at university, she had friends and family members who loved her, who will continue to do so. She will me missed by many and remembered by many more.
I want to hug Özgecan's family and friends, want to offer some semblance of comfort, let them know that people around the world share in their pain, that *I* share in their pain. I want to let them know that the death of their beloved Özgecan caused ripples around the world, that it caused tears across a continent and the entire world.
I can't do anything for Özgecan now but pray - I can't help her or protect her or fight with her. I can't tell her to be brave or strong, can't tell her how much it hurts me that she died at the hands of a stranger who cared more about his own urges than about her life and her future. I am a woman too, I know what it is like to be watchful and prepared, to evaluate every situation, to expect the worst from other human beings simply because they are bigger or stronger or think the whole world is theirs to do with as they please.
RT News reports that "Five women are killed in Turkey every day, most of them by their husbands, according to Yasemin Yucel, the deputy chairwoman of the Tarsus branch of the Education Personnel Union."
I don't need a deputy chairwoman or a newspaper to tell me that women are assaulted, attacked, abused and raped daily around the world. It is a reality every woman lives with every day - the knowledge that you might be the next target. It is not restricted to a country, region, language, ethnicity, culture or religion. It happens all over the world, in all cultures and in all religions. It happens everywhere and could happen to anyone. I only wish that somehow I could have done something to save Özgecan Aslan or to help her, to stop it from happening to her.
