Humanity has become so engrossed in matters that only concern themselves. In fact, the politics of selfishness has always been a hot-button issue in this world since time immemorial. People don’t feel the urge to speak out as long as the problem is not affecting them yet.
There’s a myopic expression as well that people often misuse “silence is golden”, but we got to be honest with ourselves, we got to do a thorough introspection and ask ourselves whether or not silence is golden on matters that infringe on the rights of others to live as dignified human beings.
During these 16 days of activism against Gender Based Violence, I find it so disturbing that people make a lot of noise and profess to go out in their communities and speak out against GBV, at one point you might actually believe them, but after 16 days, there goes the silence!
Your silence is also part of the problem and I will prove it.
Parents need to raise their children in safer environments, women and girls need to go wherever they want without fear of not being able to make it safe back home or being raped, but who is speaking out or advocating for these things if “silence is golden? How do we address societal ills by remaining silent? I really think there’s a huge problem that associates itself with silence.
When you remain silent because none of your family members have experienced GBV, there will come a time when the same disaster will hit home and there won’t be any intervention or support structures to talk about because everyone will also opine that “silence is golden”. It won’t end there, rather it becomes like a cycle that takes years to break and that perhaps explains why GBV is still rife year after year amidst 16 days of activism against Gender Based Violence being observed across the globe.
It’s easy to not concern ourselves with issues that have little direct impact in our lives, but I’m sure everyone knows or have heard about GBV cases that goes unreported and the perpetrators have by now internalized the illusion that they are untouchable because our societies subscribe to the notion that “silence is golden”. It is shameful that we have allowed ourselves to perpetuate these inequalities because we choose to remain silent when we are supposed to speak out.
It should therefore be understood that whatever is condoned and never condemned will continue to frustrate us. We are tired of seeing women with black eyes and broken ribs. We are tired of seeing perpetrators roaming around the streets as if everything is normal because people think ‘oh well, it’s none of my business’.
When we choose to remain silent even though we know something, we are therefore part of the problem.