She Was Blamed; It Wasn't Her Fault

 “It was her fault

She was wearing that skirt

Practically asking for it”

No

No she wasn’t

She was 15 years old

Walking home from school

After a day of teachers

Commenting on her skirt

Because it didn’t reach her fingertips

She dressed for herself

Not for the boy in her social studies class

Who followed her to her next class

Commenting on how she looked

She didn’t dress for the teachers

Who pulled her out of class

To talk about the length of her skirt

And she sure as hell didn’t dress for the man

Who saw her walk by

And decided to be the cause of her nightmares

Decided to do the things that haunt girls across the world

That causes girls to walk in groups

And pretend to be on the phone

So no

It wasn’t her fault

Her skirt didn’t make it her fault

The way she walked didn’t make it her fault

The fact that she was alone definitely didn’t make it her fault

But that’s what was blamed

She

     Was

          Blamed

For something he did

                She    

          Was

Blamed

And he?

He carried on with his life

She

      Was

              Blamed

             It

   Wasn’t

              Her

                    Fault

Posted in response to the challenge Human Rights – Writing.

Gali

VT

13 years old

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