I Am Angry

            Other women have already written and spoken about Congressman Akin’s words far more eloquently than I.  But here’s the information I have found.

            According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime.  That means that 17.7 million American women have been victims of attempted or completed rape.  

            80% of sexual assault and rape victims are under the age of 30. 

            44 % of sexual assault and rape victims are under the age of 18.

            29% of sexual assault and rape victims are between the ages of 12 and 17.

            My daughter is 13 years old.  

Mr. Akin, Mr. King, and all those who support your stance on “legitimate rape”, could you honestly look me in the eye and tell me that if my 13 year old daughter were to be raped and conceive from that rape, that somehow it would be her fault or it wasn’t a real rape because her body is supposed to be able to “shut that whole thing down?”  

            I suspect – and I am horrified by this – that you could look me in the eye and make that claim.  

Mr. Akin, many people have called your remarks stupid and ignorant.  They are that indeed. But they are more than that.  They are malicious.  They are misogynistic.  They are evil.  They are not only offensive to women and the real men who love them, they devalue our humanity.  Your party claims that you value personhood when it comes to the debate over controversial hot topics such as abortion.  But you obviously don’t value the personhood of half of the population!  

            You devalue me, Mr. Akin.  You devalue my daughter.  You devalue the wonderful women I call family.  You devalue the amazing women I call friends.  You devalue powerful women around the world.  You devalue the women in your own life. 

So I will fight against you, and the others who support you.  I will fight your party.  I will fight you with my words. I will fight you with social media.  I will fight you by signing every petition I can get my hands on calling for your resignation.  I will fight you with my money.  I will fight you with my vote.  I will fight you by raising my daughter to use her voice against people like you.  I will fight you by raising my son to be the kind of man you seem incapable of being; one who really loves his neighbor as he does himself.

References

National Institute of Justice & Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.  Prevalence, Incidence and Consequences of Violence Against Women Survey. 1998.

U.S. Department of Justice.  2004 National Crime Victimization Survey.  2004.

RAINN Website