Dec 2012 was horrible in more than one way.

Yes, I am talking about ‘the girl’. As some one mentioned in their post, ‘not a martyr, not a brave soul, not a rebel, but an ordinary girl who just wanted to get home’.

Many predict that we react and will soon forget the girl and move on. I wish I knew how. Believe me, for the past few days, I have been trying to forget and I am failing miserably. She is there under the surface, no matter what I am doing. Even after the initial shock has subsided, my reaction is still the same. Mostly I am shocked by my own realization that rape is not about sex, not about power but gender violence.

It feels too shallow to think that she is a symbol of me and my generation. For what she has gone through is much more than what I have gone through, E.V.E.R. I see her as more like my daughter, the daughter I have failed to protect.

She is not a culmination of actions past, but is an indication of the future unless we do something about it.

My 2013 word is SPEAK. I will start with my children and hopefully I can grown with it.