Hello!
In late Jan/early Feb, you signed this petition to help protect women around the Parc du Cinquantenaire area in Brussels.
I’m really pleased to say that because I’ve been invited into the Brussels Parliament to speak about this petition and important topic on Tuesday 25th May (tomorrow morning) @ 11:00.
The meeting will be broadcast live on YouTube from 10:00, with my speech (in French) at 11:00. If you can leave comments on the video, I encourage you to share your story/support to let others know they’re not alone.
Thank you,
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One of the biggest problems I’ve found is that so many sexual assaults/rapes go untold (let alone reported to the police). There are many understandable reasons for this, but what this does is send an unfortunately strong message to society and authorities that essentially says: ‘this isn’t that big of a problem’. We must become aware of how deplorably normal it has become to hear of sexual aggression or rape being perpetrated by men towards women (and occasionally to other men). THIS. IS. NOT. NORMAL.
It’s estimated more than 80-90% of sexual violence/rape cases go unreported to the police. If we want attitudes to change on this topic, we have to be brave enough to sound the alarm with our voice and actions. We’ve seen how far 11,000+ signatures and some unsolicited media coverage can carry a message, but if we want society to truly ‘educate our sons’ instead of simply parroting the supposedly noble idea to ‘protect our daughters’, we MUST provide consistent, hard evidence for this need until the message gets through to the relevant people.
Change doesn’t take days or weeks, it takes years and decades. Sexual aggression, violence and rape is a deep rooted problem in society, with unfortunately little to no quick fixes. Short term measures make the wound look less ugly, but sooner or later, we have to face the harsh truth and be brave enough to confront the ugliness head-on with measures designed to combat the cause - not the symptoms.
From my point of view, schooling, media and law are the three cornerstones of this topic that I believe need an urgent and overdue revamp. It’s not my intention to say the current methods and commendable initiatives around this topic aren’t working. Instead, this petition is my attempt to provide more of this hard evidence (with tremendous public support) that is desperately needed to provoke meaningful, long-lasting change.
Thank you again for your brilliant support earlier in the year. Make no mistake, it’s only with your signatures that I’ve been given this opportunity to speak to the parliament about this issue. I’m very lucky, and will be speaking on behalf of everyone who signed and all the women and men who have been subject to sexual aggression, violence or rape in Brussels.
Take care and speak soon,