ff

a friend texted me yesterday, while i was out running work errands, that he was crying over the sentencing in the rehtaeh parsons case.

 

remember her? rehtaeh. we aren't supposed to use her name. remember? remember how well reporting went for her? remember that there was a photograph of her rape, and still she was blamed and shamed and doubted and mocked? remember how cruel the world was to her? remember how she did not survive it? remember how we grieved when she died?

 



{rehtaeh's father, delivering the victim impact statement yesterday as reported by the cbc}

'why wouldn't a person report an assault?'
'we are having a watershed moment!'

{amanda hess writes on rehtaeh for slate.com}

i don't know what justice would look like, exactly. i don't. but i know this isn't it. i don't like prison as a catch-all. but i want something. i want something better than this. a system that rips a girl to shreds when she has already been broken apart.

the system is broken. the system is sick and rotting at its core.

'why wouldn't a person report an assault?'
'we are having a watershed moment!'

forgive me if i am not a believer. forgive me if i am too tired, even, to cry for her again. and for the ones who never got brought out into the public eye, whose assaults stayed 'community matters', who will never even come close to this non-justice-justice, to being heard and believed and cared for.

happy friday, don't forget.

ff

here's the what you can and cannot do in chile if you're 11 years old.

*you cannot consent to sexual activity. (age 14, although you won't have full sexual autonomy till you are 18.)(not thrilled to be linking to wiki, but the penal code wouldn't open on my computer. and. spanish. i even asked a research librarian about it!)

*you cannot drink alcohol. (age 18.)

*you cannot drive a car. (age 18.)

*you cannot adopt a child. (age 20, or between the ages of 25 and 60 if married? i'm a little confused on this one.)

*have a job. (age 15 with parental consent, 18 otherwise, and 21 if you want to work in an underground mine.)

*you cannot run for president or the senate (age 35), nor can you be a deputy (age 21).

 *you might be able to go on this rafting trip, maybe... (age 14-15 is recommended.)

*you can still fly on the child price with iberia! (age 12 up is adult fare.)

okay, so maybe some of those are not so big a deal... maybe i'm getting off track. ANYWAYS!

*you cannot have an abortion. (trick! no age restriction. no one can. not for any reason.)

what you can do in chile if you are 11 years old is carry your rapist's baby to term and raise it up as your own, and most especially, you can be praised by your president for your depth and maturity in deciding to do so.

as if you have another option.

as if you are actually capable of comprehending the reality of having a child. 

as if it isn't horribly, sadly, tragically childlike for you to say "It will be like having a doll in my arms"...

so, just putting those facts out there.


BUT DON'T WORRY! i don't want to leave you going into your weekend with such a sads. so.



YAYYYAAAAYYYY THIS IS THE BEST! i love this idea. and i love a commercial that SHOWS TAMPONS! like. not how to discreetly hide them so you won't be devastatingly ashamed cause your friends now know you ARE A WOMAN WITH A UTERUS?!!! hilarious and glib and charming and great. excellent work, helloflo.

happy friday, campers.