A letter to the ‘man’ that sexually assaulted me

A little over 24 hours ago, I was sitting in a movie theater with a friend. Whilst cracking jokes and having a jolly good time, he decided that due to the fact that I was tipsy, it would be a good idea to sexually assault me.

For the umpteenth time in my 25 years, I was forced to go through the ordeal of sexual assault and violation.

I am writing this for every woman, man or child that ever had to go through this ordeal. I am writing this for every living person on this earth because this does not only affect the victims, it affects society and modern civilization. I am writing this because people like me need this to stop.

How is it possible that in this day and age, people think it’s OK to violate someone sexually because they’re intoxicated? How is it possible that in this day and age, people like myself, the victims of a crime, feel guilty and ashamed? How the fuck is it possible that people like him, predators, get off the hook so easily? Like they did nothing wrong?

To this man I say, it is because of people like you that others find it so hard to trust. It is because people like you that humanity is facing a major downfall. It is because of people like you, society is utterly and truly fucked.

And it is because of people like you, I will not keep quiet.

Thank you for giving me the reminder that the uphill battle against sexual assault is nowhere near ending. Thank you for giving me the reminder to speak up and fight against people like you. Thank you for giving me the reminder that as long people like you exist, people like me will only be that much stronger.

You have given me a much needed reminder to rise up.

Addressing Animal Cruelty in Egypt

A few weeks ago, a man decided to bludgeon to death a few newborn puppies for no reason whatsoever. Normally, this would surprise anyone – anyone with a heart and a soul. However, in a world that lacks the basic understanding of humanity and is unable to feel compassion towards other species, this has become a regular occurrence.

Studies in criminology and psychology indicate that cruelty towards animals goes hand in hand with cruelty and aggression towards human beings. According to Robert K. Ressler, who developed profiles of serial killers for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, people who repeatedly torture and kill animals have high levels of aggression towards people as well.

Another study done by MSPCA, Professors Arnold Arluke and Jack Levin of Northeastern University and Carter Luke examined the relationship between violence against animals and crime in the general public. The study results indicated that 70% of those who committed crimes against animals are involved in other violent crimes.

The law addressing animal cruelty in Egypt is article 357 in the penal code. It states that a person is fined a whopping 200 LE ($US 25) or imprisoned for up to six months. To put it bluntly, this law is a joke because if we don’t have a more severe punishment towards cruelty, then any moron with a knife or a blunt object will continue to kill animals needlessly.

Also, the Egyptian government is known for its horrific murders of stray dogs due to “over population” by poisoning them using strychnine – a deadly pesticide, and shooting them. In fact, this disgusting and miscalculated campaign is currently running. If the country’s own government does not respect life, and we have a pathetic law against animal cruelty, how will the public ever change?

A country and its government, to put it quite simply, has the responsibility to protect all living beings living on its land. Not just human beings.

Another issue people need to address is our educational system. We do not teach children about animals and their rights. We do not teach them that animals are intelligent and are able to feel pain physically and emotionally. We fail miserably at teaching them their due responsibility towards animals because we lack empathy.

Everyone is born with compassion. Reclaim it and use it to educate your children and the generations that are yet to come.

World of Fools.

“How many times have people used a pen or paintbrush because they couldn’t pull the trigger?”

—	Virginia Woolf, from Selected Essays

What I am about to write next, is nothing inspirational or special. What I am about to write next is simply what I’ve been thinking about all day, everyday for quite some time now.

I feel nothing – not an ounce of happiness or an ounce of sadness. I’m just overcome by this feeling of emptiness, the pure deep hollowness that takes over a person when they have nothing to lose and nothing to live for – I am struggling to regain my faith in humanity and the world.

It’s tragic really, how the world and how we, supposedly the most civilized and advanced beings to roam this earth, function in this day and time. We go about our daily routines and pretend we’re intelligent and aware when really, we’re either a bunch of ignorant morons or depraved assholes who’s sole purpose is to get rich.

How intelligent are we, as a species, if we’re defined and controlled by a mere piece of paper? We have become grotesquely enslaved that we barely notice it. And why? Is it because we have become too self-centered and self-absorbed with our own problems to get to the root of things? Think about it really, it’s like we’re programmed to believe in something and we have become nothing but machines with an expiration date.

There are kids dying of hunger and thirst and others dying of obesity and yet we refuse to share. There are animals going extinct and our seas are toxic and dying yet we refuse to change the way we function. There are men, women, and children getting raped or assaulted and yet we refuse to educate. There are people buying million dollar mansions and others who are dying out in the freezing cold. There are kids who are killing themselves because they’re treated like pariahs and yet we refuse to accept them the way they are. There are people who are ashamed of having mental disorders and yet we deny them the very kindness, love and support they need.

We bully. We lie. We kill. We burn. We destroy. We abuse. We judge and we betray. We hate and we discriminate. – That’s what we, human beings, excel at.

We value nothing but materialistic things and go out of our way to satisfy our worldly desires. We care more about money than about feeding the hungry and sheltering the poor. We care more about breast sizes and numbers on a scale than the actual soul of a human being.

We are nothing. We spread like cancer and we over-populated the planet – we filled it with so much hate, ignorance and intolerance.

We don’t understand the meaning of life – what it means to live and to love. We don’t understand what it means to selflessly care and be kind. We don’t even have the ability to understand one another.

So here I am, using a pen instead of a gun, a paintbrush instead of a bomb, and my words instead of fists because I refuse to be silenced – I refuse to join this world of fools.