It is unthinkable. It is rampant. It is disgusting.

Violence against women and children plague this earth in brutal ways that we don’t like to think about, speak about.

It leaves festering, gushing sores on countries, communities and our bodies. The sickness goes so deep, it feels impossible to heal. Terminal. And for the majority of women on this earth, only a matter of time. (What a sickening fact.)

If this matter were to be treated like the cancer it is, we’d be snuffing out the cancerous cells that cause the damage. Instead, the women afflicted are told to hide the putrid infection forced upon them, like we’re told to hide our periods.

In honour of the gender-based violence protests happening in South Africa today, and all our sisters who never made it home, I'd like to share a poem written a while back.