Justice is a term that has synonymously been associated with America since the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, and it’s easy to get chills when you hear the final words in our country’s pledge, “With Liberty and Justice For All.”
Those are powerful words from a powerful nation, but how often does that claim actually follow through in our society? Can we, as Americans, proudly use the word “all” in that statement? The answer is no, not until we start acknowledging the 50% of our population that are not listened to, not believed, and not valued—the women of America.
The recent growth of the #MeToo movement has garnered a lot of attention toward the staggering amount of sexual abuse in the film industry, but it’s also brought forward the voices of many every day women who are finally getting a chance to speak out about the injustices they’ve suffered for so long. The result has been the (not so) shocking revelation that our society hasn’t attempted to move closer to respecting women.
According to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network, there is an average of 321,500 sexual abuse victims every year. This is just in the United States. Out of every 1000 rapes, only 310 are reported, and of those, only 6 end in a conviction. A study done in recent years uncovered a massive backlog in the processing of sexual assault kits in our country. This means that after a woman undergoes an invasive and uncomfortable 4-6 hour procedure to collect criminal evidence following her assault, her kit goes onto the back part of a dusty storage shelf where it will mold and rot, never to be touched again. Right now, there are believed to be hundreds of thousands of untested kits across the US. In Georgia alone, there are 10,314 still yet to be processed.
What does this say to survivors of abuse? What does this say to the mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts and grandmothers who helped build and are still building this country?
It says, “You do not matter.” But as the mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts and grandmothers of the United States, we do matter.
It’s time for us to start believing survivors, and it’s time for us to put an end to this culture that shames those who come forward. But most importantly, it’s time for a revolution that will allow us to truly claim those powerful words in our pledge.
It’s time for justice for all.