We Were Once Oppressed Too

By JESSICA EVANS
April is Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention month. The beginning of the month is also Pesach. As I read through a new Haggadah, it had me thinking about how timely it is that Pesach and Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention month occur at the same time. 
In a society where survivors are not always believed and are told when it is "appropriate" to discuss their assaults, it is important to remember that we are were once oppressed too. 
In a society where an extraordinarily few rapists ever see justice, it is important to remember that once we were oppressed too. 
In a society in which survivors are afraid to come forward and fear the consequences of speaking up, it is important to remember that we were once oppressed too.
In a society where you can be refused service or fired because you are LGBTQA, it is important to remember that we were once oppressed too.
In a society where you are more likely to be a victim of a sexual assault because you are LGBTQA, it is important to remember that we were once oppressed too.
In a society where you have to hide your mental health conditions for fear of backlash at work or home, it is important to remember that we were once oppressed too.
In a society where when tragic violence happens the first place people place blame is at mental health furthering stigma, it is important to remember that we were once oppressed too.
In a society where once has to "prove" they are disabled when they have an invisible disability, it is important to remember that we were once oppressed too.
In a society that has placed stigmas of laziness and helplessness on the disabled, it is important to remember that we were once oppressed too.
I wondered further what would have been enough for me, where is my Dayenu in life. I fear attaching dayenu to these circumstances, to the milestones of awareness and victory for fear that we stop there. If we stop at just bringing about awareness but do not repair and prevent, do we still give thanks? When we have won marriage equality in many states but still pass bills of discrimination, do we say dayenu? When we bring about more awareness and decrease stigma towards mental health but do not extend services that people can reach to, do we still say dayenu? When we have fought for more awareness around different types of disabilities but people still get cruel and ignorant notes on their windshields, do we say dayenu?


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