Violence against women is a serious and global problem.

According to the Amnesty International USA Web site, “In North Africa, 6,000 women are genitally mutilated each day. This year, more than 15,000 women will be sold into sexual slavery in China. 200 women in Bangladesh will be horribly disfigured when their spurned husbands or suitors burn them with acid. More than 7,000 women in India will be murdered by their families and in-laws in disputes over dowries.”

However, violence against women is an issue here at home as well. “In the U.S., a woman is raped every 6 minutes; a woman is battered every 15 seconds.”

These statistics are shocking and disturbing on their own, however, they are even more distressing in light of the recent hate-motivated incident on our campus.

Derogatory words, like those written in Buxton Hall, can often serve as the first step in dehumanizing a potential victim making it more conceivable to commit violence against the degraded person or people.

Therefore, we believe it is important for the Simpson community to attend events like the Take Back the Night rally to show our support for women who have been victims of violence as well as our commitment to not only end violence against women, but as an expression of our intolerance of the actions and behaviors that can lead to violence.