I’ve been sick :(
Hey everyone…sorry about the delay in postings. I have been fighting the flu off and on for a few weeks now, and I’m trying to get back into the swing of things. So to catch you guys up, here are a couple of posts about some current events.
In the past few weeks, a lot of news has been coming out of Yale University. A graduate student, Annie Le, was discovered to be missing. Surveillance videos showed Le entering the building, but never leaving. Sadly, Le was to be wed the Sunday after she vanished. Her wedding was called off by her family and fiancé. Her body was found in the lab building’s basement, in a sort of utility closet or crawl space. Tuesday night, a lab technician was arrested and charged with her murder. The coroner has ruled that Le was killed by traumatic asphyxiation – a choke hold or other sort of violent strangulation.
A statement from Yale President Richard Levin was released on Yale University’s website. In the statement, Levin says, “…we must not let this incident shatter our trust in one another. We must reaffirm our deepest values as an institution – our commitment to the search for truth, undertaken in a spirit of openness, tolerance, and civility.” The statement also says, “…we will redouble our efforts to educate the community about Yale’s zero tolerance policy for violent, threatening, and abusive behavior.” Furthermore, in a wonderful public relations spin, the statement reads:
“This incident could have happened in any city, in any university, or in any workplace. It says more about the dark side of the human soul than it does about the extent of security measures. Nevertheless, safety is a very high priority, and we will shortly be soliciting suggestions from the community about how we might further improve campus security.”
My prayers and thoughts have really gone out to Le’s family the past few weeks. What a horrible ordeal for them! What really caught my eye, though, is that in all the msnbc.com coverage, there has been a gallery of pictures and stories of missing women. One in particular has really stuck out to me. I remember hearing about it this past winter.
First, I want to say that I don’t believe any woman asks to be raped, kidnapped, beat, murdered, etc. However, I do believe that women have to be their own best defense.
Laura Garza, a 25 year old woman, disappeared this past winter after leaving a bar with two men she’d just met. Garza didn’t know, though, that one of these men was a sex offender. Reports are that Garza did not tell her friends where she was going or that she was leaving the nightclub. Garza has not been found – dead or alive – as of yet.
Again, I do not believe that Miss Garza asked or deserved to be raped, abducted, or murdered. However, I do think she could have been smarter about some decisions she made that night. She should NEVER have left the bar with those men. When I first heard this story on Nancy Grace, she said that “we need to stop these violent crimes against women.” Yes, Laura Garza is a victim, and yes, what those men MAY have done (they haven’t been formally charged with any crimes) was wrong. However, I think that if Laura Garza had been her own advocate, this would not have happened. If we are going to stop violent crimes of any kind against women, women have to start being their own advocates. This means things like, not leaving a night club with men you don’t know, don’t leave your drink unattended, and don’t walk alone at night in unlit, secluded areas. Women have to be their own advocates before they can expect anyone else to advocate for them.