Learning Respect

Rape in India has been a large issue in the last two years after a girl died after being gang-raped in 2012. Once again, it surfaced on the news when a woman was raped by her Uber driver in Delhi. There have been countless pleas from women all over asking for the Justice System to work and make sure that the people who have raped others be given a sentence that they deserve. We talk about becoming a society that will grow exponentially. That will make leaps and bounds in the next couple of years, but how are we supposed to do that when people don't feel safe?  I don't mean just women by the way. Men get raped too.  If we can't stop objectifying people, how are we supposed to grow as a nation? Can the person who committed this crime not realise that this person is a relative of someone else? What would happen if someone raped your family member? Imagine this: She walks down the street. It's 10pm and she's on her way to meet her friends for drinks. She's wearing a jeans and a top, nothing too fancy because she wanted to be home soon. The bar was close by, so she decided to walk instead of taking a taxi.
As she walks, a man starts walking behind her and follows her. She notices him and starts walking faster, hoping she can make it to the bar in time. 
She doesn't.
He grabs her and puts his hand across her mouth as he drags her behind the building. She struggles as much as she can and tries to scream. Yet it doesn't work.
He forces her on the floor and starts to lift up her shirt so that he can fondle her. Then he starts unbuttoning her jeans. He's too heavy for her to push him off her. He pulls down her jeans and she goes limp, too stunned to say anything. While he's inside her, he says that if she tells anyone, then he'll hurt her family. 
When he's done, he zips his pants and walks away.
She, is lying on the floor, unable to move because of how painful it is.
This is not a scene that you want to picture, and yet it happens more frequently than we think. Imagine if this happened to your family member. Your sister, mother, daughter. On top of that, reporting this and knowing that nothing is being done. Makes your blood boil, doesn't it? So then how can these men do this to our women.  We spend a lot of time worshiping Goddesses and saying that since cows provide us with milk, we shall not harm them and let them roam freely on the streets and yet to someone who has mothered us and given us life, we decide to defile them? In rural India, a lot of people think that men are worth more. That they will be able to plow fields, build houses, etc. But please ask me this, who gave birth to them? Who fed them, taught them and helped them grow? Women. And yet, these are the women that get treated the worst. We as a nation, no, we as a planet should all strive for one thing. Safety. We should have roads, bars, houses, cars that are all safe to use at different hours of the day. Men and women should feel safe whether they walk along the roads at 3pm or 3am. Men and women should know that they are ever violated, in any way, then something will be done. Men and women should know that their children will be ok if they take public transport by themselves.  It all begins with respect. Respect one another. Respect the old man that walks down the street. Respect the police officer that is trying to help you. Respect the small girl that is eating her ice cream. Teach your children to respect everyone. That everyone should be equals. No one should be looked down upon or looked up to like Gods. No one should be objectified. No one should be hurt. Only then, will everyone be safe.