Column:

Power to the (female) people

By Sami Hall

Published Sept. 22, 2009

I like to think of myself as Wonder Woman — able to ward off any threat, physical or otherwise. Even though I hate to admit it, women, especially young women, are vulnerable. The fact of the matter is that being female presents one with a myriad of dangers males encounter less often.

The story of Annie Le makes this unfortunate truth all the more visible: a bright, loving, young woman taken advantage of by a male attacker. At 4 feet 11 inches and 90 pounds, Le was easily overtaken by alleged attacker, Raymond Clark, who was accused of strangling the young woman to death and stuffing her inside a wall. Her story is not a new one — in fact, it is one we know well.

All too often we hear about a young woman killed by a man she knew, possibly intimately, and her family and friends are left to put together the pieces. Undeniably, it is troubling men who prey specifically on women for their perceived vulnerability exist in this world. That there are men whom succeed is most troubling of all.

Regrettably, grisly homicide is not the only danger women face. September is Rape Awareness Month. One out of every five college-aged women is a survivor of rape, and 79 percent of rapes on college campuses are committed by someone the victim knew, according to the Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center.

Rape is severely underreported and under-prosecuted, and relationship and domestic violence is considered a lesser crime than identical cases of assault by our criminal justice system.

When sexual or other heinous crimes are committed against a woman, the criminal justice system often turns a blind eye, either by ignoring the report or by plea-bargaining every case reported. It seems the term, "criminal justice system," is ironic and misleading.

It is easy for us to simply say women need to be careful. But if it were that easy, the problem would have been resolved already. Implying these crimes only occur because women are not careful is both insulting and damaging. Being careful is not enough to change what happens to women on a daily basis. A fundamental shift needs to occur within our society and ourselves in order to change the direction in which we are headed.

The portrayal of women as the constant victim is something ingrained within our shared societal psyche. The idea women cannot defend themselves is an archaic and outdated concept. Women are often the victims of gruesome crimes, but that is not due to some biological deficiency.

The road to female empowerment begins with all of us — men and women. We should not disregard the concept of female empowerment as radical feminist rhetoric, but think of it instead as an essential step to preventing crimes against women — crimes that could be committed against you, your mother, sister, friend, roommate or daughter.

Awareness is key in the process to violence and rape prevention. I urge you to not only aim to be aware, but to be active in the prevention of rape and murder of young women. Every woman is Wonder Woman, and each deserves to be her own superhero.