On Sunday, Aries and I met on the West End for a Candelight Vigil with SAVI. The Vigil was to honor anyone who'd been a victim of a crime. The service was beautiful, and multi-faith. And the choir was super inspiring and soulful. Survivors came up to speak about their experiences. One woman had been injured while standing on a street corner. A man made an illegal U-turn, prompting a taxi to spin out of control and pin the pedestrian to the fire hydrant. Her leg was amputated. Scary stuff, huh?
Others had lost children to crime, which was heartbreaking. No parent should outlive their child.
While all the survivors stories were inspiring and touching, and their strength moving... there was one woman who stood out. She was tiny, with flame red hair and a booming voice. She had been on the subway at rush hour last September, when a man exposed himself to her. Rather than shy away and try to ignore it, she took action. In a loud voice, she informed the car what the man was doing. She asked that her fellow passengers take photos of him to assist with arrest. She made HIM feel embarassed rather than feeling shamed herself (as so many sexual assaults unfairly do make the surivior feel shame). She really flipped the power dynamic. As soon as the subway car stopped, he was promptly arrested. She testified in court, he was convicted to probabtion and deported. For the rest of his life, he will have to file as a sex offender.
The funny thing is, the bystanders didn't just take photos. Someone also videotaped her laying the smack-down to the offender. The video went viral online, and thousands of women wrote in thanking her for her courage and telling their own stories.
Amazing how one little person can change things, huh?
*scorpio*
No comments:
Post a Comment