This poem was inspired by the Moroccan law which allowed a rapist to escape conviction by marrying the victim. Fortunately the law was recently abolished, however the sad reality is that all the women in that country and the world over are still defenseless against these harmful practices irregardless of measures or laws put forward to protect them. All that we can do as people is hope and pray that maybe one day our children will live in a world that is more loving and tolerant of our deferences. It begins with me, it also begins with you, strive to do something today in your own capacity to make this world a better place for its inhabitants.
She was cheated even before the cards were dealt
She was penalized even before the game was played
She was robbed of all that she had even before she knew all that she possessed
She was born a girl, disadvantaged with a voice never meant to be heard
Hers was a tragedy right form the onset
Hers is a gender that roadblocks all her effort
And that renders her retrogressive even before she makes a start
Hers is a sex that stole her independence
And that silences her voice
Now I sit and wonder…
what kind of sick society
perpetuates senseless violence
and desensitizes its people to inhuman practices?
what kind of world is this that we live in which has no pity for the hurting?
which turns a blind eye to the oppressed
and a deaf ear to those shedding sorrowful tears?
What kind of a people are we who prefer coldness to warmth
who imprison the juvenile victim and allow her victimizer to be the jail keeper?
What kind of a people are we who legalize destructive social norms?
What kind of a world is this which allows immorality to take precedence over purity?
Tell me… what kind of people are we who stand aside and watch as innocence is brutally defiled by lustful desires?
Being a girl child has now become a curse
It’s her against a world from which she is defenseless
Which perpetuates her fragility and weakness
And makes her vulnerable, the prey to monsters who victimize her under duress
Someone, please hear her pleas
Someone, please see her tears
Let her cries not fall on deaf ears
Someone, give her a microphone please
Someone attach a resonator to her larynx
let her plight be of importance
Someone give her a megaphone please
and let her words be amplified
Someone please of the girl child’s plight sit up and take notice
Open your heart to these requests
I beg you please give her a voice….
BY TANYARADZWA VANADIS17 MASAIRE
