Today we learned that a 91-year-old woman was sexually assaulted by a family member. This follows a week in which we have also learned of a 15-year-old gang raped by three males known to her, a 16-year-old raped by a known perpetrator, and a convicted sex offender and pedophile stalking a 10-year-old child.
Each of these cases is horrifying on its own. Taken together, they speak to a reality we cannot ignore:
we live in a rape culture.
Let us be clear — there is no excuse, no justification, and no circumstance that makes the sexual assault
of a 91-year-old grandmother, or any person, acceptable. The perpetrator must face the full force of the
law, and the victim must receive every support available to her. But punishing offenders, while necessary, is not enough. We have seen the Crisis Center support a sex offender registry while opposing it being made public — presumably to protect offenders from vigilante action. Women United respects that position but disagrees. We believe the sexual offenders register must be made public. Transparency protects potential victims. It allows parents, guardians, and communities to know who lives among them. The right to safety must outweigh the offender’s right to anonymity.
However, we also acknowledge that a registry — public or not — is a response to harm that has already happened. It does not stop the harm from occurring in the first place.
What else must we do?
This week, Minister Barbara Cartwright announced $42,900 for the Protection Against Violence (“PAV”) Commission, with plans to renovate two safe houses. Let us be blunt: $42,900 is woefully inadequate for a national commission tasked with developing a strategic plan and implementing the Protection Against Violence Act. And we are not appeased by the promise that additional funds will be found within the Social Services budget — because finding more there simply means leaving other necessary services underfunded. It is regrettable that the government has found itself having to shuffle existing monetary allocations around as an afterthought rather than having a clear line in the budget allocating the necessary funds to the PAV Commission.
We call for: Comprehensive, age-appropriate education in schools —beginning at the earliest grades — teaching children about bodily autonomy, consent, and respect for others. A fresh generation must be raised to understand that assaulting another person — physically or sexually, man, woman, or child — is wrong.
Public awareness campaigns that target not only potential victims but potential perpetrators and bystanders. We all have a duty to call out harmful behavior before it escalates to violence.
Robust support systems for victims — shelters, counseling, legal advocacy — so that reporting
an assault does not mean reliving trauma alone.
Holding every family, community, and institution accountable to break the silence that protects abusers. When a 91-year-old is assaulted by a family member, or a teenager by men known to her, the failure is not just the offender’s — it is ours, for allowing the conditions in which such violence is normalized.
Proper, upfront government funding for the institutions tasked with preventing violence. Not crumbs from the budget. Not promises to find more later. Real, allocated, sufficient resources. Women United also calls upon our men. The role of men is to be the protectors of the women and children. We need our men to stand. We need them to speak out and to be seen condemning violence against women and children. We need them to condemn sexual assaults. We need them to teach young boys and young men that “no” means “NO!”
Ending rape culture will take a generation of effort. It begins with teaching our children that no person is an object to be used, that no body is public property, and that we are all responsible for protecting the vulnerable among us. It continues with a justice system that prioritizes victims over offenders, and it is sustained by a society that refuses to look away.
To the grandmother assaulted today, and to every victim: we see you, we believe you, and we will
not stop fighting for a world where this no longer happens.
