Two days ago I read about an Afghan woman who, at age nineteen, was raped by her cousin’s husband. Soon she found herself experiencing morning sickness and carrying her rapist’s child. Today, she sits in an Afghan prison with her child, condemned for committing “adultery” even though she tried to resist her assailant’s attack. She has two choices: to spend the entirety of the twelve year term in prison or, if she wants to escape prison time, she must marry her rapist.
Her story lingers with me. I think about the brutality of her existence and other people in the world facing similar or greater injustices. And how one’s geography always holds the upperhand. It determines destiny. If this same woman was attacked in the United States, her rapist would serve prison time.
I realized, in reading her story, how I amble and lose sight of what glimmers in front of me.
And that everyday, I should be thankful for my geography. It navigates in ways that I don’t always acknowledge.
Wherever you may be, sending peace and strength.
Welcome! I am a lawyer turned freelance writer, essayist, and editor. On staff at Literary Mama and the co-founder and co-editor of the literary journal, The Sunlight Press, my essays and reported work have appeared in The Washington Post, The Lily, Saveur, Civil Eats, Brain, Child, ESPN and elsewhere. I am currently at work on a memoir on grief and culture and how it provides perspective on life’s ordinary graces. I invite you to appreciate the ordinary with me. I hope my daily practice of seeing the magic in the mundane helps you celebrate and find more of these moments in your life too.
Heartbreaking story. I feel sadness about all the injustice and crimes against humanity occurring in the world today. Thank you for sharing.
I wish you and your loved ones a happy Thanksgiving !
You’re right, Rudri, geography determines much of our lives. Like you, I am grateful. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
This is such an important reminder. We lose sight of essentials too easily in this country. All we need to do is look beyond our doors to our neighbors, and to those beyond our borders as well.
A dear friend of mine is working with a non-profit that works with women/girls who are victims of slave-trading right here in our own country. The injustices toward women are everywhere, I’m afraid. But thank you for bringing attention and letting us never forget the women everywhere who need our help.