There have been a countless amount of stories lately in the news about women being murdered. This is nothing new, but lately is has been really bothering me. What inspired me to make this post was the recent murder of Lauren McCluskey who was a 21 year old track star at the University of Utah. If you are not aware of this story, I will post it below so you can know more. Anyways, this story is so haunting because it can happen to anyone. This could have been me. That could have been my face all over the news. That could have been my parents crying. What bothers me the most is that this woman was taking the proper precautions in order to maintain her safety. The story started off innocent enough. Girl meets boy at a bar where he was the bouncer, and they start dating. It's an age appropriate love story, and something we all have done. I'm sure people want to spout off and say why would she hook-up or give her number to a stranger? Don't even start, and you know we've all been there.
The story takes a turn when Lauren found out that this man (Melvin) was in fact much older than he said he was, and that he had a criminal history. After she tried to end things, he got obsessive and even blackmailed her with photos. She ended up paying him $1000 not to release photos he had of her. She contacted police, and campus security was escorting her around campus. Her parents knew she was scared and they were encouraging her to contact authorities. Police seemed to brush it off a little until it was too late. Lauren was on the phone with her mother when she thought she was safe enough to walk to her car. She was on the phone with her mother when Melvin snatched her. The last words her mother heard her say was "no no no." She heard the fear in her daughters voice. Can you even imagine feeling that helpless? Can you imagine the worry until it was confirmed she was dead? Lauren was found shot in her car a short time later.
As a single woman in her late twenties, this fear is constant for me. I like to go out, and I like to have fun. But this could have been me. This still could be me. The fear of letting people in, letting people know where you live, and the fear of who they may really be is exhausting. I don't live and I don't want to live in fear. But, sometimes it's always in the back of my mind. Should I trust this guy? How soon is too soon to let him know where you live or where you work. This girl simply told this man NO. She was no longer interested. He lied to her about so many things and she was done. This man decided she didn't get a choice and ended her life over a few dates. This fear is not the only fear I have though. Another recent news story was where a man killed his wife and children and then WENT ON LIVE TV and acted like he was innocent and was begging them to come home. I will post a link below. Anyone who can act like that is a sick person. So, not only do we have to fear dating, but we have to fear our spouses. These people were married for many years, and had two children together. He killed them too. Maybe there were signs, maybe there weren't. We will never know the truth.
I guess the point is that you never really know who people are. I know so many wonderful people, and many of them are men. But, it's scary out there. I don't want to hold back in life. I want to be able to walk a street alone. I want to be able to leave a casual relationship that no longer serves me and not be scared of being murdered. Men seem to have a very hard time not getting their way. Men and violence is much too prevalent these days, and it needs to end now. I refuse to be cooped up in my house all of the time, and I refuse to live in fear. But, in the back of my mind, I will always have a small amount of doubt.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/26/us/utah-student-killing/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/21/us/colorado-chris-watts-court/index.html
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