Day 17: The Day They Hash-tagged Rape

They said she was disabled
Her mother called her an innocent
Psychiatrists called her a patient
Police called her a victim of rapists
Feminists called her a victim of society
Her mother wept as she blamed poverty
Outrage sung in every tweet
And in comment sections in every article
From Reuters to BBC
SlutWalk and the talk of raising your sons
To think right and act right
Meant nothing here
All she could think of was their laughter and jests
As they took turns
She was disconnected from the world
They lost their souls in the process
Of trying to prove to each other
That they were men.
They said she was disabled.
They didn't say that
The young men were enabled
To label the sin
As corrective, and tradition
It was forbidden to speak of
Hide the girl
And silence the boys.
Come to this side of the world
You will find women and girls
Crying over the victim in the Turkish series
And growing to love the man who allowed it
But not over the real life seventeen year old
Broken victim
From Soweto.
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April is Poetry Month: 30 Days, 30 poems.
Link to other poems: http://drumsofhopeagaisntahistoryofpain.blogspot.com/p/april-poetry.html