Yes there is strength in numbers
But why
Why does it take
A tribe of people to speak out
Against one persons mistake
How dare we and why
Do we allow
One persons arrogance
One persons lie
That continues to build
And continues to take
Because to allow their actions to grow stronger
Allows the mountains they make
So why do the hurt
Carry the burden of shame
When entitlement and arrogance
Belong to those to blame
People please give us strength
Give us courage to own
Empower and provoke us…
To stand on our own.
Entitlement: to give a person a title, right or claim to something.
Entitlement needs to belong to the victim, to the hurt… they need to feel the right to believe in righteous justice to amend the harm done to them.
We want to talk about giving victims the encouragement and support to speak out. As we look to prevalent cases in the news like the Ghomeshi case and more recently the Bill Cosby case, both deal with that fact that these crimes began years ago to a number of women, and yet only years later are these victims coming forward and speaking out. So the question everywhere is being asked, why wait until now? We know why they wait… because of fear and shame. How does this change? How does a victim, in the moment find the strength to speak out now? It comes down to having a culture, that in the instant someone is harmed there is confidence in a support network of people, society and the justice system. To believe and know for sure that it’s the harmed who are entitled to power, and a righteous justification. And knowing that the guilty are made accountable.
We support and applaud the women in these cases who have bravely come forward, but we want to see that bravery happening sooner. How many women would not have needed to experience years of silence, shame, and pain if they knew they could have come forward sooner. How many victims would have been spared such agonizing experiences if the guilty had been made accountable sooner?
Once again we want to open discussion to these issues, we want to inform and encourage. And we also want you to know that if you need the support to come forward, we are here to help.