What does it say to the women of this country:

when an HIV positive woman is raped

and the woman castigated for not telling her rapist that she has HIV

before he proceeded to create a chasm in her soul

that the judges and jury turned a blind eye to.

What does it say to the women of this country:

when two 16 year olds rape an unconscious girl

and the media coddles the two boys for the football careers they no longer have

instead of the girl who now has an ineffable well of desolation growing inside her

What does it say to the women of this country:

when after an 11 year old girl was raped by 18 men

the New York Times posted an article claiming that the girl

"dressed older than her age"

What does it say to the women of this country:

when they have to watch every move they make or what they wear

because the actions of these men are justified by the public,

who claim that the woman was "asking for it" by wearing a mini skirt

Was an eight year old girl

asking to have her innocence stripped from her

for wearing her school uniform?

If I had one wish for the women of this country...

It's that they should not live in fear