For too many, home is not a sanctuary. For too many, love is not tender. For too many, their final breath will be stolen by someone who was meant to care for them.
As we read the haunting headlines and hear the stories that ripple through the world—like the tragic case Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei covered by the BBC of yet another woman whose life was taken by a partner—it’s impossible not to be struck by the magnitude of loss and devastation. Femicide, gender-based violence, and intimate partner violence are not isolated incidents. They are systemic, they are pervasive, and they are growing.
But statistics do not carry the weight of lived experience. Numbers cannot convey the deep, aching fear of knowing that the person you once loved now holds your life in their hands. Statistics won’t tell you about the quiet moments, the escalating threats, the bruises hidden under long sleeves. They cannot encapsulate the dread that creeps in with the setting sun or the silence that follows when neighbors turn away from the screams they hear at night.
Intimate partner violence goes beyond an act of physical harm; to betrayal of trust so deep it corrodes a person's very sense of self. It strips away dignity, erases autonomy, and leaves scars that run far deeper than skin. Survivors are left to rebuild their lives and are often forced to battle a justice system that fails to see their humanity, a society that tells them to stay silent, and a culture that perpetuates the myth that they are to blame for their own suffering.
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Femicide—when a woman is murdered simply because she is a woman—reminds us of the ultimate price of this violence. It is the horrific punctuation at the end of a cycle of abuse, of a society that does not value women’s lives equally, of a world that still views women as property or as objects to be controlled. And yet, every femicide is more than just an act of violence. It is a story cut short. It is dreams shattered, futures destroyed, and families left in ruin. It is a reminder that the most dangerous place for many women is in their own home, with the person who claims to love them.
We must ask ourselves: why? Why, in 2024, are women still dying at the hands of their partners? Why are women still silenced by fear, by shame, by a system that does not protect them? Why do we allow this violence to continue, to persist in every corner of the globe?
It is because femicide, gender-based violence, and intimate partner violence are not simply about individual acts. They are the consequence of deep-rooted misogyny, patriarchal structures, and societal norms that teach men that power is something to be exerted over others. They are fueled by economic inequality, by lack of access to education, by cultures of impunity, and by the perpetuation of gender roles that confine women to submissiveness and men to dominance.
And yet, even in the face of such devastation, there is resistance. Women are speaking out. Survivors are reclaiming their stories. Communities are mobilizing to demand justice, accountability, and systemic change. But it should not be up to the survivors alone to shoulder this burden.
We all have a responsibility—to listen, to advocate, to support, and to act.
Femicide is not inevitable. Gender-based violence is not a foregone conclusion. Intimate partner violence can be stopped. But it will require more than words. It will require a dismantling of the systems that perpetuate inequality, an overhaul of the justice systems that fail to protect, and a radical reimagining of relationships, power, and care.
For every woman who has been silenced, we must speak!!
For every life that has been stolen, we must demand justice!!
And for every person who has survived, we must build a world where safety, dignity, and love are not luxuries, but rights!!
This is our collective fight. And we must not stop until every home is a sanctuary, until every love is tender, and until no woman fears for her life because of her gender. Because their lives matter. Because their stories matter. Because we cannot allow the final chapter of their lives to be written in blood.
We mourn you Rebecca!
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