A Possible Break in the Case

Last month I wrote about 6 African American women whose bodies were found in the same area in Rocky Mounty, NC. (posted 7/8/09). A man has been arrested in connection with the murders. He is a convicted, registered sex offender (his charge was indecent liberties with a 2 year old - ask any DSS worker what indecent liberties means if you are in the mood to get angry about the ridiculous charges that we have for child molestation and how awful, offensive crimes can be reduced to ridiculous misnomers like "indecent liberties with a child").

Most of the women's autopsies revealed brutal, violent murders. The perpetratror targeted women who were on the margins of society - easy access and an easy way to go undetected by police. The perpetrator dragged the women, possibly still alive, off into woods and behind crack houses. He tossed them away like garbage.

The crimes show a particular hatred towards women carried to an extreme. Do you have anything in common with the man who committed these crimes? The murders are all horrific and that can stand in the way of seeing the connections of other lesser forms of violence against women. Can the person who listens to and enjoys music that degrades women see any connection with this man? Probably not. It's too far away and too close at the same time. Who wants to give up the music they love so much? Who could see a reason to give it up when they know they would never murder a woman? How do we make the connections and start a chain of change? Starting with the sex offender/murderer of adult women doesn't seem like the best place to launch a prevention effort. But how do you reach out to people who see no connection to violence against women and their world of music, movies, books, entertainment, and relationships? How do we break through the belief that not murdering women is enough?

"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe."

~ John Muir

I'm sure John Muir was talking about trees and the environment - the beautiful lands of California that he loved so much. His phrase applies to all of life. How you are living and treating people in your life influences the degree of peace towards women and children everywhere.

Here is the article about today's arrest in Rocky Mount, NC. http://www.newsobserver.com/news/crime_safety/story/1670771.html