1/18
Americans have an obsession with crime. It often leads your local news, we are glued to TV shows about it, and we get fully invested-for good reason - in the gripping stories of kidnapped women & murderous spouses - mostly men - that flash across our screens. #velshi
Americans have an obsession with crime. It often leads your local news, we are glued to TV shows about it, and we get fully invested-for good reason - in the gripping stories of kidnapped women & murderous spouses - mostly men - that flash across our screens. #velshi
2/18
But our concern about violence against women is imperfect, or at least incomplete because, when looked at in its totality, crimes and injustices against women go unsolved, uncovered and unpunished at alarming rates around the world. #velshi
But our concern about violence against women is imperfect, or at least incomplete because, when looked at in its totality, crimes and injustices against women go unsolved, uncovered and unpunished at alarming rates around the world. #velshi
3/18
The death of Gabby Petito has captivated the nation. Her boyfriend - whom police say remains a person of interest in the investigation - is still missing. What happened to Gabby Petito is horrible. And her case deserves the attention it’s getting. #velshi
The death of Gabby Petito has captivated the nation. Her boyfriend - whom police say remains a person of interest in the investigation - is still missing. What happened to Gabby Petito is horrible. And her case deserves the attention it’s getting. #velshi
4/18
And so do the stories of thousands of women who have shared a similar fate. Ashley Loring was only 20 years old when she disappeared from the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana in June of 2017. #velshi
And so do the stories of thousands of women who have shared a similar fate. Ashley Loring was only 20 years old when she disappeared from the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana in June of 2017. #velshi
5/18
The family received a tip that Ashley was seen running from a vehicle the night she vanished. The family did its own search & found Ashley’s sweater & a pair of red-stained boots in a desolate area; evidence that was turned over to law enforcement for DNA testing. #velshi
The family received a tip that Ashley was seen running from a vehicle the night she vanished. The family did its own search & found Ashley’s sweater & a pair of red-stained boots in a desolate area; evidence that was turned over to law enforcement for DNA testing. #velshi
6/18
The family says it never got the results. Ashley remains missing today. This is far from being just an American problem. Sabrina Rosette was murdered at the Toosey Reserve in British Columbia in June of 2019. #velshi
The family says it never got the results. Ashley remains missing today. This is far from being just an American problem. Sabrina Rosette was murdered at the Toosey Reserve in British Columbia in June of 2019. #velshi
7/18
She was found with a knife wound in her side. A man was taken in for questioning but ultimately released. Sabrina’s murder remains unsolved. Shantieya Smith was 26 years old in 2018 when she left her home in Chicago and never returned. #velshi
She was found with a knife wound in her side. A man was taken in for questioning but ultimately released. Sabrina’s murder remains unsolved. Shantieya Smith was 26 years old in 2018 when she left her home in Chicago and never returned. #velshi
8/18
Her body was found in an abandoned garage. Police say she was brutally beaten to death. To this day, Shantieya’s killer remains on the loose. Her mother says DNA evidence found under her daughter’s fingernails has been sitting on a shelf, untested. #velshi
Her body was found in an abandoned garage. Police say she was brutally beaten to death. To this day, Shantieya’s killer remains on the loose. Her mother says DNA evidence found under her daughter’s fingernails has been sitting on a shelf, untested. #velshi
9/18
We need to look at their faces. And say their names. These are just four of the countless women who deserved better. #velshi
We need to look at their faces. And say their names. These are just four of the countless women who deserved better. #velshi
10/18
There are thousands of women, like Gabby, Ashley, Sabrina, and Shantieya who never stood a chance in a world that allows men to do terrible things to women, and that doesn’t take seriously the epidemic that is violence against women—ALL women. #velshi
There are thousands of women, like Gabby, Ashley, Sabrina, and Shantieya who never stood a chance in a world that allows men to do terrible things to women, and that doesn’t take seriously the epidemic that is violence against women—ALL women. #velshi
11/18
If you're a woman of color, indigenous, trans, or a woman living in poverty - the system values your life even less. In the past decade, in Wyoming - the same state where Gabby Petito’s body was discovered - 466 Indigenous women and girls were reported missing. #velshi
If you're a woman of color, indigenous, trans, or a woman living in poverty - the system values your life even less. In the past decade, in Wyoming - the same state where Gabby Petito’s body was discovered - 466 Indigenous women and girls were reported missing. #velshi
12/18
According to a state report, only 18% of those women received newspaper coverage. According to the Native Women’s Wilderness group, indigenous women and girls are murdered at a rate 10x higher than all other ethnicities. #velshi
According to a state report, only 18% of those women received newspaper coverage. According to the Native Women’s Wilderness group, indigenous women and girls are murdered at a rate 10x higher than all other ethnicities. #velshi
13/18
If you look at federal data from 2018 - black women made up less than 7% of the population, yet they accounted for nearly 10% of all missing persons cases in the country. #velshi
If you look at federal data from 2018 - black women made up less than 7% of the population, yet they accounted for nearly 10% of all missing persons cases in the country. #velshi
14/18
The numbers are staggering but the very point is BECAUSE the vast majority of these stories get NO coverage, people don’t even know to be outraged; they don’t know that violence against women continues to get a pass from the media, and from society. #velshi
The numbers are staggering but the very point is BECAUSE the vast majority of these stories get NO coverage, people don’t even know to be outraged; they don’t know that violence against women continues to get a pass from the media, and from society. #velshi
15/18
Hence, in many cases, these women and their stories were erased twice. First, when they are killed, and second when they go unsolved, uncovered and their attackers go unpunished. #velshi
Hence, in many cases, these women and their stories were erased twice. First, when they are killed, and second when they go unsolved, uncovered and their attackers go unpunished. #velshi
16/18
This is a societal crisis. We cannot consider ourselves a civilized society when we let women vanish to turn up dead, most of the time, at the hands of men, either known to them, or at random. #velshi
This is a societal crisis. We cannot consider ourselves a civilized society when we let women vanish to turn up dead, most of the time, at the hands of men, either known to them, or at random. #velshi
17/18
Maybe this hasn’t affected you directly. I hope it hasn’t. Maybe you don’t live in a community where women and girls are indiscriminately falling off the grid. It doesn’t matter. #velshi
Maybe this hasn’t affected you directly. I hope it hasn’t. Maybe you don’t live in a community where women and girls are indiscriminately falling off the grid. It doesn’t matter. #velshi
18/18
Just like climate change & social justice and the opioid crisis— this is a crisis that is ALL of our problem to solve. It’s time we hold violence against women - Black, white, Hispanic, indigenous, poor, wealthy - all women - the same standard of outrage and action. #velshi
Just like climate change & social justice and the opioid crisis— this is a crisis that is ALL of our problem to solve. It’s time we hold violence against women - Black, white, Hispanic, indigenous, poor, wealthy - all women - the same standard of outrage and action. #velshi
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