My daughter was raped last night. Then again, some people think that's okay.

Eyebrows raised across the internet when the picture to your right went viral on Facebook a few weeks back. Words cannot express how appalled I was when I first saw it. Apparently the woman in the dress is Dancehall Queen, Lady Saw. Now I'm sure she makes good money selling albums and doing live performances, but at what cost? I'm not too familiar with her albums, but I doubt after seeing this picture that I'd want to buy any of them. What she has done is literally a slap in the face to the thousands of abused women worldwide.

If I were to meet Lady Saw, I'd have a few questions to ask her.

1) Lady Saw, how do you plan to respond to the young girls in Los Angeles, California, who were sexually assaulted by their own elementary school teacher  earlier this year if they were to stumble across this picture?

2) Is this your way of justifying why over 92 million African girls who are aged 10 and older should undergo female genital mutilation? Or are you just simply boasting your freedom to be publicly fondled while these innocent girls are forced to undergo such a barbaric practice?

3) How would you respond to every female rape survivor, including the repeat victims, if they were to publicly condemn you for giving it up this easy to a complete stranger?

4) Do you encourage boys and young men to treat women the way this guy is treating you? Do you encourage young girls and women to be as open (no pun intended)?

I'm sure that you were enjoying yourself as well as entertaining your audience while cashing in on it. Coming from a Bajan ancestry (that's slang for Barbadian, by the way), I'm quite familiar with gyrations and whining as a form of dancing, which has been the norm in the Caribbean for decades. But as for this, I'm quite surprised that even you, as a (mature?) woman, don't know when to draw the line. This is considering the fact that women worldwide continue to be sexually mistreated, while some were fortunate enough to stand up and expose their aggressors (ever hear of Herman Cain?). Your behaviour in this picture set back respect towards women over one hundred years.

I hope that you strongly consider and think over the questions that I've listed above. Because there's a huge difference between entertainment and letting some stranger treat your body as though it's some Goddamned Six Flags Theme Park!


References
USAToday: Ex-LA Teacher accused of Molesting 23 children
World Health Organization
FGM: The Debate about FGM in Africa, The Middle East, and the Far East
TMZ

Russell Brooks is a former Canadian Track Team member and the author of the thrillers CHILL RUN, PANDORA'S SUCCESSION, and the short story collection UNSAVORY DELICACIES.