EDITORIAL
Heed the cries

Putting aside the question of honour in the first degree murders of Zainab, Sahar and Geeti Shafia and Rona Mohammad Amir there was a cry for help from four women - a loud cry - that was only stifled by the waters of a canal. They asked for us to take notice - to step in. But where were we?
_In their own way and to different levels of authority these girls, these women, did what they were supposed to do. They reached out - they spoke to others about their fear and repression - and the system failed them. The system. Us!
_Why? If you’ve never been witness to domestic violence, it isn’t necessarily on your radar. It’s something you can’t quite conceive; something happens in other homes, to other women.
_There is an old joke that almost doesn’t bear printing here, but we do it to make a point. A well-known and beloved comedian on the Ed Sullivan show asked audience, “What do you tell a woman who has two black eyes? ” His answer: “What can you tell her? She’s already been told twice.” That ‘joke’ was told on national television in the 60s, when the church was busy advising abused women that maybe they should just try harder. After all, their husbands were under stress.
_Violence against women hasn’t stopped because men stopped being violent against women. If it has decreased at all it is because women in our society believe they now have options; at least a promise of support.
_But are we keeping that promise? Men have to stop the violence, but we have to stop tolerating it. Violence against anyone, is unacceptable. And violence is violence - no different because it happens inside the walls of a home. Too often, we take too long to respond to cries for help. Children are kept in cages, babies in suitcases and stairwells, men in closets, women locked in bathrooms and basements for years.
_Victims need to know they will be heard and their cries acted upon. Those of us who suspect violence against another need to act upon our suspicions. Those tasked with responding to these cries for help and these suspicions, must do so, quickly and thoroughly. Until this happens, we will continue to find bodies at the bottom of canals.