To the boys draped in football jerseys
Rape is just a word used to express humiliating defeat,
A word used by the politician
To express injustice or misuse of the system.
Some even have the nerve to use it on National Television,
“You cannot rape a woman who is willing”
It is a word uttered by students after a difficult exam paper
A word now diluted by dialogue and jokes from it’s meaning.
Yet behind this word
Lies a monster that haunts dreams of both boys and girls, men and women
A weapon used to create fear
And perpetuate acts against humanity.
This is a word used in hate
Against female activists
Creating a sense of shame and unworthiness among victims.
A word that stops many from feeling love
And causes some to commit suicide.
A word that breeds insecurity
That some can never walk freely
Without looking over their shoulders.
It is a word that has cause health complications
Caused some to not have children
And helped in the spread of incurable diseases.
Rape is not a casual word
It is not meant to be used in jokes
Or to express something than what it really is.
So please think before you use it loosely.
Words are powerful. Words evoke emotion. They take you to a time or place, they jog your memory, they bring back sights, smells, tastes. What if a word that brought back a bad memory, a traumatic experience, was tossed around casually? What if nearly everywhere you went, you heard this word? And you just couldn’t escape it.
