RIHANNA – POSTER CHILD FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

It is shocking and even appalling that the media leaked the battered and beaten face of Rihanna taken at the police station right after her boyfriend, Chris Brown, allegedly assaulted her. Ironically, because of Rihanna’s fame and popularity, this disturbing photo may just be the wake-up call we all needed. Only 21 years of age, the talented and beautiful young pop star is already a statistic of domestic violence that is becoming more and more prevalent in today’s society. It is sad that it takes a celebrity to be brutally assaulted by her up and coming Grammy nominated boyfriend to generate world-wide media attention. Men are assaulting and killing their wives and girlfriends every day without so much of a blip on the radar. In fact, the Muslim man in Buffalo, NY who just recently beheaded his wife barely made national news. If it weren’t for the internet, I never would have heard about it.

It’s been almost a decade that we have been living in the 21st Century, an incredible time in the history of civilization, and to which has delivered incredible achievements. It is a time in history where breast cancer has finally been globally recognized as one of the leading cause of death in women and is being treated as such. It is a time where a woman competitively ran against a black man for the title of the highest rank in the United States and almost won. It is a time that is open-minded enough to vote in the first African American President a mere four decades after the assassination of Martin Luther King. It is a time where home televisions are as large as a public cinema’s and computers are as small as a wrist watch. Technology is allowing us the opportunity to be well informed of what goes on around the world 24/7 no matter where you are and what you are doing. Well, NOW is the time to use this technology to arm ourselves with the knowledge and tools which may someday save your own or another woman’s life.

It is critical to acknowledge a very clear fact that according to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, women experience about 4.8 million intimate partner-related physical assaults and rapes every year. Even more deplorable is that a significant number of crimes are never reported because the victim feels nothing can/will be done to stop the rapist from doing it again. In today’s society, it is amazing that women still believe they are resigned to being victims without fighting back. The bottom line is that we have to open up our eyes, our minds and our hearts to the painful truth that so many women are victims to the worst casualties of life – indiscrimination, sexual assault, domestic violence and the worst violation of all – the inattention of such a pandemic sickness which is growing in numbers every day. Violence against women shows no favoritism – any religion or race will do, rich or poor, college educated or a high school drop-out – it doesn’t make a freaking bit of difference. The idiom, the “weaker sex” will continue to live on as powerful as ever if we allow it to. We, as women, need to educate ourselves on the law and our constitutional rights. Most importantly, we need to own up that it is our responsibility and our responsibility alone to protect ourselves by any means we can -- self defense training videos or classes, literature and personal protection devices. I personally prefer a Taser because if you can’t beat them, zap the motherf’ers.

As an end note, the horrific photo of Rihanna’s brutally beaten face is a fearful reminder that this beautiful young girl could be my daughter, your daughter, your sister, mother, aunt, girlfriend. I pray that you will never have to experience such horror against a loved one. Please stay safe. Peace out.