After rail stabbing, Charlotte must ask if it’s doing all it can to protect women
On August 22, I went to dinner at La Capital MX in South End. I spent about two hours there eating and drinking with my best friends, all of us enjoying our Friday night. Less than a quarter mile away, around the same time, 23 year old Iryna Zarutska was stabbed to death on the Lynx Blue Line light rail.
The contrast between my Friday night and Iryna’s Friday night is horrifying. How is it possible that at 10 pm on a Friday night, a time when young people flock to South End and the streets are as crowded as if it were broad daylight, a girl can be murdered in public and it’s not all that surprising?
Following Iryna’s death, there have been calls for increased security on our public transit systems. This is clearly a necessity, but we need to be looking at the larger issue at hand: Do women in Charlotte feel safe here? I speak for many, if not most, Charlotte women in their 20s when I say we all have a story. We have all been harassed, approached, followed, or attacked while walking or running. Just take a look at social media. Countless videos posted by Charlotte women warning others to avoid certain stores or neighborhoods have gone viral.
Being harassed on the street is often waved off as an unfortunate fact of life for women, but last week, we all saw what it can escalate to. We shouldn’t be waiting until someone is dead to take action.
This isn’t just a women’s issue. We should all be angry that Iryna was failed and we should all be demanding urgent change.
Iryna fled from war-torn Ukraine to the United States for safety, only to be killed on what should be a safe means of transit in a safe city in a safe country. We can’t prevent all violent crimes, but it's time to start prioritizing the safety of women on local, state, and federal levels. It isn’t acceptable that women in Charlotte are scared to shop at Target or run on the greenway or do things alone.
So yes, we do need safer public transit. But this is just the tip of the iceberg and we need more. What other actions are going to be taken in the wake of Friday’s tragedy? How are we going to create a safer city?
Ironically, I’m writing this on August 26, Women’s Equality Day. While we can and should honor the advancements and achievements by and for women, the value of this day is diminishing.
This shouldn’t be the norm. We all deserve better.