A Case for Our Daughters
It’s no secret that I’m an ambitious women in the tech field and enjoy advancement. I am the quintessential “abrasive” woman in business, seemingly obsessed with results and advancement. I can’t say it feels very good to get this label and the other harsher ones I often get, but hey, words are just words and I am not perfect. We pick our battles.
I have spoken up repeatedly for equality for women in tech and business. Why do I bother to campaign for this, instead of simply “just letting my work do the talking?” Because I know these facts:
- One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime.
- Domestic violence is the second biggest killer of women under 50, behind car accidents.
- 63% of all homeless women are reported to have been abused.
- There are 1,500 shelters for battered women in the United States. There are 3,800 animal shelters.
- Three to four million women in the United States are beaten in their homes each year by their husbands, ex-husbands, or male lovers.
- One woman is beaten by her husband or partner every 15 seconds in the United States.
- 4000 American women die from domestic violence every year. This is almost the same American casualty number as the entire duration of the Iraq War.
When women have their own economic power, it means we have the ability to pick up and leave when a man hits us. Temporary women’s shelters are no substitute for this pure economic freedom. Millions of women in the world do not have the luxury to pick up and leave a man if he punches her in the face, including women in our own country. Millions of women in this world are coerced or even forced to have a child of rape even if it would kill them, including ones in this country. This is not acceptable.
How do I know economic power is freedom?
Because if another man I live with ever throws my head into a brick wall, threatens to break my bones, or stalks me ever again, I can now afford to physically pick up and leave. Most women do not have this luxury. I have forgiven through a long process, but I will not forget the hurt that this behavior causes women, men, and children around the world.
Please share this if you agree it is time to give our mothers, wives, and daughters a fair shot in life. Thank you.
To Jessica, Zoe, Genny, and Joy, remember that you are always loved and cherished. Love, Aunt Chelle
