Moving from Blame: The Power of the Villager
By: Aleena Perez
Look around at your friend to the left and your friend to the right. You see three girls with golden futures thrown into a world where tragedy is only "tragedy" for so long before it turns into another statistic, another whisper of an imminent danger, which is painted as a distant threat. The harsh reality is that an uncomfortable peril lingers in our streets and our feeds, all while robbing the youth of millions of girls worldwide.
This crisis is far from uncommon, according to the global data from UN women, nearly one in three women fall victim to various forms of gender based violence, “An estimated 840 million women – almost one in three – have been subjected to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their life (30 per cent of women aged 15 and older). We scroll past these numbers in our daily internet feeds. It seems as though gender based violence appears in many forms, yet our response too often remains passive.
When people hear the word activism, they often visualize protests on city hall stairs or donations to charitable organizations. This activism is loud and undeniably important, but loud activism is not the only catalyst for change. For Generation Z, activism begins with something as simple as a screen. The same platforms that expose us to stories of injustice contain the power to educate and unite millions in just a few clicks.
With that, social media has reshaped conversations surrounding gender. Harmful stereotypes can spread faster than ever before, yet awareness campaigns, survivor stories, and educational resources can do the same. Rather than allowing our feeds to become places where tragedy is acknowledged for a moment before disappearing into the next headline, they can become spaces where awareness turns into action.
Too often, we convince ourselves that creating change is someone else’s responsibility. We wait for lawmakers, nonprofit leaders, celebrities, or activists to solve problems that belong to all of us. Yet communities have never been built by a single person.
We often hear the proverb, “It takes a village.” Yet villagers are not sustained because one person carries the weight of everyone else. They endure because every villager contributes something; one teaches, another builds, another protects. The same principle extends to the fight against gender based violence.
Not everyone will organize a nationwide march, and not everyone has the means to donate thousands of dollars. But perhaps your role is educating classmates through social media, organizing a fundraiser, volunteering at a shelter, or simply challenging victim-blaming when you hear it. Every role, no matter how seemingly insignificant, helps the village grow stronger.
Justice is often measured by convictions and sentencing. While holding offenders accountable is essential, justice should not end when courtroom doors close.
Survivors continue carrying burners that legal proceedings alone can’t erase. Trauma does not disappear with a verdict. Neither do the emotional scars, financial hardships, or social stigma. In many cases, survivors are met not only with unimaginable pain but also with doubt, judgment, and misplaced blame. Instead of asking survivors why they were there or what they were wearing, our questions should concentrate on the choices of the offenders and how our communities can better support those affected.
Villages are not built in a single day or by a single person. They are founded by ordinary people who choose not to remain passive, ordinary people who start small and gradually build larger. Whether your contribution is donating five dollars, organizing a fundraiser, or simply listening without judgment, every act of compassion and advocacy strengthens the village.
It is worth remembering that progress is not defined by one extraordinary action. Instead, it is built through thousands of ordinary people making the choice daily to become villagers.
