Ladies. My sisters. Beautiful autumn flowers. Today I appeal to your voices. To your timbres and your notes which, with every hard blow, every setback, resonate. Calm. Enlighten.
I am speaking to you today, luminous. To you whose light once crackled. To the discreet who fight the darkness. To those who, no matter the time or the state, light up football fields with loud blasts. With great outbursts of indignation. Courage, dissent and raised fists.
I address myself to all those who want to foster hope.
We are living through an era without precedent in many ways, of course, but a time of catastrophe where violence seems to be the only form of response from those in power. Siphoners of life; of those who lose the grip on that which they had nevertheless put in their hand.
It’s the big ball for cowards and very little men, and it’s high time to close the ticket office.
In 2021, domestic violence continues to decimate women. To decimate our breaths, our dreams, and to suffocate tomorrow. And this is not just a question of the 19 lives which, at the time of this writing, have eluded us. That we escaped. Nineteen. A number of horror that courts the next ten. It makes me dizzy to have to write it down, but the health of a society cannot be measured by the appalling number of bodies that slip through our fingers. They are only a sad showcase. The store is full.
Domestic violence has many faces. It is verbal. Psychological. Economic. Sexual. Often silent, always insidious, cutthroat just enough to make us believe that everything is not so bad and above all, that it is not our damn business. Incessant. As you read these lines, thousands of women are victims, in silence. At that precise second. Sometimes, without even being able to identify it, because it is too unspectacular to fry the evening bulletin. Women you may see on a daily basis. Women you love. From all walks of life. Of all ages. From all origins.
Behind closed doors, domestic violence is rampant. But it concerns us all.
And this is where I appeal to you.
On the occasion of the 12 days of action for the elimination of violence against women, from November 25 to December 6, the Regroupement des maisons pour femmes victims of conjugal violence is organizing a “Marathon of words against conjugal violence”. A race of words, a great repatriation of our individual courage, a choir of indignation where voices, all voices, have the right to resonate.
Every week, since the hecatomb, I read you on social networks. In the newspapers. In the streets. I hear you and rejoice. Your speeches are powerful. They awaken. They soothe and instill courage and confidence in dozens of us to leave a situation of domestic violence. Or maybe even just identify its existence.
Your speeches put words on the unspeakable. They break down the wall of isolation, silence and above all, they weave hope. A hope from which we make coats.
This is why I invite you, the impetuous as well as the most timid, to join your pen to this great collective score to which will also join their voices the women accommodated in the assistance and shelters of the group.
The Marathon will kick off on November 25. From this date, use your stands. Take social media by storm. By using the hashtag # Marathon12 days, the magic will operate: all your words will mingle …
The sum of our voices saves lives. Don’t underestimate her.
On behalf of all women, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. And to all those whose hearts and lives perhaps waver today, know that you are no longer alone. It’s possible to get out of it. To breathe again. We won’t let you down. Never.
What do you think? Express your opinion