Happy [Belated] Women's Day!

As most of you may know, yesterday was International Women's Day. Although I'm an hour late, I would like to take this time to acknowledge not only the achievements, but the immense importance of the women in our lives. It could be your mother or aunt who feeds you until your buttons are ready to pop, your grandmother who nurses you back to health with all sorts of gross yet seemingly miraculous traditional medicines, your sister who bails you out whenever you're in trouble, your friend who knows exactly what to say when you're down, or your daughter or niece whose single smile can not only brighten, but make your entire day. The women in our lives are so truly special and it is great to have a day where you can be thankful for their mere existence.

Those who know me can probably attest to the fact that I spend many a days at the mercy of my laziness. I was about to give up and surrender to the sweet siren call of sleep when I started listening to Lupe Fiasco's new song, Words I Never Said. Incidentally, Lupe's new album, Lasers, dropped yesterday as well so make sure to go buy it because this man is a lyrical genius. As I listened to the song, it hit me: "I can't take back the words I never said". If I didn't blog about this now, I never will.

Flashback to this morning. I visited the Women's Center on campus and this poster caught my eye.

For a while, I just stood there astonished. Under any other circumstances, 97.25% would be considered extremely high. Nearly perfect, even. Then you read the surrounding text and you ask yourself, 'Are they kidding me? No way can this poster be serious. It's not possibly that not everyone at UofT thinks rape is wrong. Everyone must know that if it's not consensual, it's not right?' Unfortunately, that is not the case. We attend university to get an education. To learn and prepare ourselves for the "real world". If 2.75% of us do not understand rape, what must the stats be like outside our sheltered little campuses?

Almost every female I know can recount a story of rape or some type of sexual abuse encounter or another. The unfortunate fact is that most women get abused by people they know and the majority of the cases do not get reported. This is the sad truth and something must be done about it. What better time than Women's Day (or Day After Women's Day, if you will) to start spreading awareness. No better day than today to start building a brighter, safer future for the next generation.

If you were affected, the important thing to remember is that you are beautiful and loved and one incident need not define you. You are important and no one can change that. Make sure to talk to someone about it. The following websites could be really helpful:

Kids Help Phone: http://org.kidshelpphone.ca/en
Assaulted Women's Helpline: http://www.awhl.org/

I'm sorry for the lengthy post; I promise to keep it short next time. Hope everyone is well!