In Memoriam

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. This week has been somewhat solemn for me after I heard about a terrible incident on Tuesday. One of the young Bangladeshi women--almost exactly my age--working at the American Club was murdered by her husband. She was a repeated survivor of domestic violence, but this time she did not survive. I remember her face from greeting me whenever I came through the doors, and now it will be permanently etched into my memory. Please keep Runa in your thoughts and prayers.

I was really devastated to hear this, as anyone would be. I heard about it from a friend then read it in a tiny box on the back page of the newspaper. The incident stirred up an array of feelings for me, many of which I had never felt. I have never been this close to such a violent tragedy, though I've read and researched so much about the brutal oppression and violence against women in Bangladesh. This made it more real to me.

I was enraged, both at the man and his family, who went into hiding and will probably never be caught, and at the casual attitude that most people had about it. Apparently, these kinds of things are so common here that most Bangladeshis view "wife killings" the same way we in the US might see a car accident in a neighboring town. "That's sad...what are you going to do?" In Bangladesh and many other places in the world, women just aren't seen as people: beings with agency, humanity, or intellectual capacity.

This week, I felt powerless and helpless in the face of such broad scale oppression. I suddenly felt as though nothing that I could do would be more than a drop in the bucket. I know that although this particular atrocity was highlighted in my mind, that many more like it happen every day in Dhaka alone. It's easy to forget as a foreign and privileged woman in such a desparately poor country JUST HOW BAD things are. On the encouraging side, I do feel deeply committed to pursuing a career in empowering women, and speaking out against violence, oppression, and patriarchy, especially in the developing world. The need has never been more urgent to me.

I know I'm just a post-college kid. Maybe I won't ever change the world...

But I'll die trying.