Dear media,
I know you mean well, when you plug in safety tips in news articles that report violence against women. I know, I hear you.
However we are in 2021 and it is high time we stop cornering victims and curbing their freedom. How about we start giving advices and suggestions to attackers and perpetuators of these crimes. You never know, you may start instilling these thoughts into human minds and in the need of the hour, people may be able to recall these suggestions and it can help prevent an attack.
Here are some of the samples:
Example news article: Woman attacked during her run at night.
Typical advice given to women and victims in such articles:
- Avoid running alone at night, try to run in groups
- inform someone if you run alone.
- do not use same route everyday
- do not wear headphones,
- watch your surroundings.
How do helicopter parents and truly narrow minded and fear riddled folks interpret such articles:
- You should never run, girls should never run, why do women need run? You should not go outside at all for other reasons as well – no work, no school. It is not safe, it is safer to be home.
How about we do this: add advice for attackers as well: Here is a sample message:
“”If you feel the need to attack a women/someone who is alone,
- Turn around and walk away.
- Call your family or your therapist or your friends, they can usually talk you out of such thoughts. It can also bring back the touch of humanity and bring you back to your senses and make you aware of the consequences.
- Practice some breathing exercises and emotion management exercises. “”
I am not a professional and hence I added few suggestions, I am sure you have access to lot of great resources and professionals from whom you can get wonderful suggestions and start adding them in future articles. I would also highly recommend to add this to the start of your article so it does not get missed out and has a high chance of being read.