{"id":7202,"date":"2018-08-03T16:07:21","date_gmt":"2018-08-03T16:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/?p=7202"},"modified":"2025-12-26T22:30:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T22:30:27","slug":"confronting-gender-based-violence-hopscotch-nadine-aisha-jassat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/2018\/08\/confronting-gender-based-violence-hopscotch-nadine-aisha-jassat\/","title":{"rendered":"Confronting gender-based violence: Hopscotch by Nadine Aisha Jassat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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And let\u2019s just name the problem here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

these streets I\u2019ve walked I\u2019ve walked in fear,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and never once have these words begun<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in a woman\u2019s mouth.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This week\u2019s Sceptical Scot poetry post highlights Hopscotch, by Nadine Aisha Jassat<\/a>, a powerful, gut-churning challenge to gender-based violence. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The poem, and the film it inspired, feels deeply personal. But it is set in a context of hard facts and startling statistics. ‘Sexual crimes are at the highest level seen since 1971, the first year for which comparable crime groups are available’, according to Rape Crisis Scotland<\/a>.  While figures for many other crimes are going down, latest Scottish Government statistics show sexual crimes are increasing. Between 2015-16 and 2016-17, there was a  5% increase \u2013 10,273 to 10,822.  In 2016\/17, 1,755 rapes and 123 attempted rapes were reported to the police in Scotland (Source: Recorded Crime in Scotland<\/a> 2016-17).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind the statistics are real life experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sat on the bus with a stranger’s hot breath –<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I want you.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n