By: Sandhya Sugrim Dipchand
People can raise so much awareness about suicide prevention and domestic violence, but sometimes forget where the real problem begins.
It is often recommended to seek help from someone if you are feeling down and in a bad situation, but half of the time people refuse to do anything because of the way they are treated. It all starts with you as a person. People have become so judgmental, rude, and biased that’s it’s become so hard to communicate your problems and feelings to someone else. Matter of fact, on a regular day, people are just so mean to one another and for what reason? – “I have so much on my mind” or “I have my own things to deal with.” Well you know what, so does the rest of Society.
Me as a person – I am very selective about who I confide in because people are very quick to spread your news, judge you and make you feel uncomfortable. Now that’s just me. Imagine someone who is going through tough times and this is already how the society is- who would they want to confide in? No one.
I have seen such a downgrade in women and especially in how they treat other women. If a women is in a domestic violence relationship, it’s rare that they will seek shelter in a man. However, they would definitely lean towards a woman. But the way how society is set up, women have become so competitive and nasty to one another that it makes it hard for a victim to find someone to confide in. At the end of the day, all we have is each other.
This is definitely a long ramble but from reading all of the recent news, it’s a sad situation to see these women going back to their creator at a young age, but what you should ask yourself is — are you someone that a victim can approach and if not, maybe it’s time you need to change. It doesn’t take much out of you to lend a listening ear or words of advice. Kindness starts with you.
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The views expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the position or policy of the THE WEST INDIAN.
