It Matters Monday - Domestic Violence

Happy Monday everyone :) 

The new week brings a new laptop. My beloved Mac died a painful death at the weekend, taking all my files and photos with it to its grave. As a mark of respect, I went out and bought a very nice new one. I'm everso excited about it! My last one was sweet, in a falling-apart kind of a way, but this one feels very fancy and special!

I'd like to share a video with you today; it's another TED talk that I found inspiring. In the video below, Leslie Morgan Steiner talks about her experiences as a domestic abuse victim, before explaining why victims don't always leave an abusive relationship. This is such an important topic. Domestic violence is sadly extremely common and I often hear people question the victims' decision to stay. Such a common occurrence in today's society shouldn't be so poorly understood. We all know what the abuser is doing, but we never fully realise the mentality of the victim, often wondering if the victim might be partly to blame for not leaving. Steiner, however, explains the precise reasons why this happens, why the victim stays in such a relationship and why it's problematic to ask these sorts of questions. 

Please note that the content of the video is rather upsetting - Steiner describes the abuse she once suffered at the hands of her former husband so please be cautious when watching.

What are your thoughts on this issue? I wholeheartedly agree with Steiner when she says that we need to talk about this. As she says, abuse thrives only in silence. We need to break that silence.

A final note - Steiner mentions that abuse victims can of course also be men. I think she generalises a little in the video despite this. In my opinion, abuse towards men needs to be brought into just as much focus as that of women. For society to be equal, we need to acknowledge each others problems regardless of gender and take these issues just as seriously no matter whether they are affecting a man or a woman.

the little nordic cabin

x

It Matters Monday - Should the age be lowered for cervical cancer screening?

There are not many things that bother me. I tend to keep out of politics, avoid confrontation at all costs and I never really get involved in campaigns or protests. However, there is one thing that is extremely important to me. If you live in England, you may have heard the recent news reports about smear tests for cervical cancer. I recently filled in a questionnaire which was aiming to find out how clued up young people are on these tests and how likely they are to take them in the future. It is clear that the need for these tests is very much in the forefront of peoples minds at the moment. The thing I have a problem with, however, is the fact that us girlies have to wait until we're 25 until we can take the test.

25 is far too old, in my opinion. In recent years there have been too many deaths of those under the age of 25, deaths that could have been prevented if those girls had been allowed to have the smear test at a younger age. In my group of 5 close female friends (from my hometown) two of them had already contracted HPV which was in the process of developing into cervical cancer. Both were told that they were in the beginning stages of cervical cancer and were promptly treated. Those two friends were lucky enough to have significant enough symptoms to warrant a test. 

HPV stands for Human Papilloma Virus and is the most common sexually transmitted infection worldwide. It is more common than Chlamydia. In a large number of cases, it does get cleared by the body, naturally, within a couple of years, but it can also lead to cervical cancer. In 2008 a vaccination was introduced that prevents this virus. However, the vaccine can only be administered to girls between the ages of 9 and 25 who have not been exposed to HPV before - ie girls who have not yet had sexual intercourse. That leaves a gigantic gap for us girls who have not been able to get the vaccine, but still have years before we can get the smear test. That means if we have the virus, it has plenty of time to develop without our knowledge. 

I understand that there are health risks when having the smear test underage. The results are not always reliable and of course it's expensive too. However, I firmly believe that those of us who are experiencing unusual symptoms, have been diagnosed with another sexually transmitted infection or who have not practiced safe sex and believe that we have been exposed to the infection have the right to be tested. After all, is it not better to be safe than sorry?

What are your views, my dears? Do you think the age should be lowered, or at least that allowances should be made for those of us who might be experiencing some of the symptoms of this terrible disease? 

Also, please feel free to join in with my new Monday blog theme 'It Matters Monday'. It would be lovely to read about the things most important to you guys (and it's nice to get a little inspiration when we're stuck for post ideas, isn't it :) I'll put the button up in my sidebar shortly, in the meantime feel free to copy it from here.

inspire nordic

♥