Today there is "shock" that there is so much sexual assault in Australia. I don't think it is just Australia - I think it is something that is far more widespread than just this country. Still, I am more familiar with this country.
It has been an issue for Australian women for many years. I remember many incidents from my teen years. I was a trainee nurse - and we were high on the "hit list". The nurses home where trainee nurses had to live, was called "the bulk store". It was and probably still is an expectation that if a boy and girl went out together, just the two of them, there was an expectation of some sort of sexual activity. If the girl didn't want it, it was too bad. It was what was expected. "Boys will be boys" - a term that always makes me angry.
The girls always got into trouble - especially if they became pregnant. How often did the bloke get off scot free? No consequences for most of the blokes involved in an "unplanned pregnancy". The girl had to endure a termination or go ahead with the pregnancy and the consequences.
If the girl (and/or her parents) decided that the unwanted baby be adopted out, the girl had to bear the guilt. The boy? Probably forgot about it very quickly.
Sexual assault in the workplace? Many girls and women can tell tales about these sort of experiences. I certainly can. I don't intend to relate the tales of the times I have been abused/attacked. I will say that a very senior person in a hospital I was working as a senior nurse tried to have his way with many of the staff. I refused to have anything to do with him and was bullied terribly. I left not long after and was not keen to return to nursing again.
Now today the media is full of shock and horror about the sexual abuse in universities.
Really? It is pretty much everywhere.
I think of the many women in other countries, e.g. Afghanistan, Middle East, African and South American countries - in fact it is probably an issue all around the world.
It has been an issue for Australian women for many years. I remember many incidents from my teen years. I was a trainee nurse - and we were high on the "hit list". The nurses home where trainee nurses had to live, was called "the bulk store". It was and probably still is an expectation that if a boy and girl went out together, just the two of them, there was an expectation of some sort of sexual activity. If the girl didn't want it, it was too bad. It was what was expected. "Boys will be boys" - a term that always makes me angry.
The girls always got into trouble - especially if they became pregnant. How often did the bloke get off scot free? No consequences for most of the blokes involved in an "unplanned pregnancy". The girl had to endure a termination or go ahead with the pregnancy and the consequences.
If the girl (and/or her parents) decided that the unwanted baby be adopted out, the girl had to bear the guilt. The boy? Probably forgot about it very quickly.
Sexual assault in the workplace? Many girls and women can tell tales about these sort of experiences. I certainly can. I don't intend to relate the tales of the times I have been abused/attacked. I will say that a very senior person in a hospital I was working as a senior nurse tried to have his way with many of the staff. I refused to have anything to do with him and was bullied terribly. I left not long after and was not keen to return to nursing again.
Now today the media is full of shock and horror about the sexual abuse in universities.
Really? It is pretty much everywhere.
I think of the many women in other countries, e.g. Afghanistan, Middle East, African and South American countries - in fact it is probably an issue all around the world.
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