At thirteen most girls are entering their second year of senior school, they might have been given their first mobile phone, maybe they are experiencing the independence of going out without their parents for the first time, or maybe they are experiencing rape. Although this might be a terrifying thought, it is certainly not something that lies outside the realms of the possible. On 12th November a thirteen year old girl was raped on Tooting Common. This atrocity is made even more horrifying with the knowledge that this Common is filled every day with children making their way to and from school, oblivious to the threat that this girl was exposed to.
This girl is one of 85,000 others who will be raped this year and by the time you have finished reading this article another man or woman will have been subjected to this disgusting abuse. Recently an article has been released offering ideas to women to help reduce the risk of being raped, these include: not having your hair tied up, walking without headphones or other distractions and wearing clothes that are harder to have removed. However, surely the message we should be pressing home is that no matter how an indivdual is behaving, or how they are dressed, or how they are made up, rape is always wrong and no one should have their human rights violated in this way. There is no excuse that can justify it.
Alice Karslake
Streatham and Clapham High School
