I never expected to be lying in my bed sleeping, when my estranged husband came and shot our two children, Kyle and Latisha, attempted to kill me and committed suicide in front of me....
The most common question I got asked was “what did you do to ‘make’ him do that”?
I figured out a really smart arse answer to that, some 15 years later: “I happened to be breathing, and I think that’s what really pissed him off”.
Blaming victims for the violence inflicted upon them has plagued the discourse around violence against women for too long.
Wearing short skirts or headphones doesn’t cause violence.
Walking alone at night doesn’t cause violence.
And drinking alcohol does not cause violence against women... While alcohol can increase the frequency or severity of violence, on its own it does not explain the gendered dynamics of violence against women.
Read the full story by Ann O’Neill, whose husband shot and killed their two children in 1994, here.
The most common question I got asked was “what did you do to ‘make’ him do that”?
I figured out a really smart arse answer to that, some 15 years later: “I happened to be breathing, and I think that’s what really pissed him off”.
Blaming victims for the violence inflicted upon them has plagued the discourse around violence against women for too long.
Wearing short skirts or headphones doesn’t cause violence.
Walking alone at night doesn’t cause violence.
And drinking alcohol does not cause violence against women... While alcohol can increase the frequency or severity of violence, on its own it does not explain the gendered dynamics of violence against women.
Read the full story by Ann O’Neill, whose husband shot and killed their two children in 1994, here.
