When I was in South Africa, I was seeking Truth about what had happened there. Tonight I went to an art show entitled, Off the Beaten Path: Violence Women and Art. The exhibit has artists from South Africa in it and one of the pieces mentioned the statistic that one in three South African women are abused. South Africa is the rape capital of the world was another write up.

The truth hurts sometimes when Truth cannot be exposed. Truth is layered an multi-faceted. The truth of why such violence occurs is what really needs the light shone on it in order to end the violence and how we heal the women who suffer from it. I live in one of two provinces that have similar statistics to South Africa. Manitoba has high domestic violence rates. The territories are even more brutal for women, having 13 times the national average in Nunavut.

The show is worth seeing. I cannot sugarcoat the sickening feeling that grows in the pit of the stomach as you walk through the rooms. One or two pieces inspire hope. I cling to that. Women around the world are changing their reality. I pray that men will also break the patterns that lead to the abuse.

Peace,

Suzanne