Her bruisers will fade, but the scars will remain.
Much like society’s fast paced arguments and protest for those who have no voice.
We forget those who desperately wished to be forgotten.
Our thoughts fade
as it wasn’t about us
It happened.
I should be safe at the post office.
It happened.
I’m in the comfort of my home.
It happened.
I am only hanging the laundry.
They took my innocence, under the watchful eye of my grandmother.
It happened.
The tears of victims flow deep.
May we remember the voiceless
As we take a moment to remember that they are you and I.
Background.
During my 1st block of this year, I was placed in the neurosurgical ICU at Groote Schuur Hospital. During my time there a patient was admitted post Diffuse axonal injury DAI. During our initial assessment, we noticed that our patient had also suffered bruises to her legs, arms and her chest. The injury to her chest was shocking, as it was in the shape of a shoe print.
I then reported this to my clinician and she stated that they are aware of the fact that the patient was a victim of domestic violence. Her husband stated that he only threw her slipper at her. The ethical dilemma I faced was the fact that I wanted to report what had happened to the police or to a higher authority at the hospital.
However, my clinician then said that I should not say anything as nothing will be done. She said that this type of thing occurs frequently at the hospital. Recent statistics show that woman are 5 times more likely to be killed due to gender based violence (Maluleke, 2018).
According to the South African bill of rights all human beings have the right to freedom and security, this includes not being punished or treated in an inhumane way (1996). The ethical guidelines of the HPCSA state that clinicians may be required to disclose patient information when abuse is suspected (2019).
In light of what has transpired in our country in the last few months I decided to write this poem. I chose for the title of the poem to be “it happened” in order to highlight the fact that violence against woman has occurred prior to us being aware of it. The title also highlights our hopelessness. The first and second stanza explain how the increased attention on the subject of gender based violence will subside.
The next two stanzas give examples of times when crimes against woman were perpetrated. The last stanza explains that we as society need to realize that the victim’s are our sisters, wives, mothers and daughters. For as long as we do not stand up for them we are victims and voiceless.
This resonates with my own personal ethical dilemma, in which I had to keep silent as, it was seen as a waste of time.
References
Ethical guidelines for good practice in healthcare proffessionals. (2019). 1st ed. HPCSA.
Maluleke, R. (2018). Crime Against Woman in South Africa. [ebook] Statistics South Africa. Available at: https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/Report-03-40-05/Report-03-40-05June2018.pdf [Accessed 5 Oct. 2019].
3 thoughts on “Just a slipper”
.
Hi Umar. Thank you for sharing your writing piece. It must have been an overwhelming experience being in that situation especially since it was your first block. It is frantic to think how our patients go through domestic violence and sometimes we do not always know about it.
content: I like the fact that you did a poem and added a bit of background to it although I think the background could be more detailed – with added references to back up. Your writing piece gives an idea of your what you are trying to say but it is unclear of what you are trying to get across and what topic you based on class discussions you are relating it to.
argument: there is no argument noted or claims made – what did you do about the situation? what did the nurses have to say? what human right was violated? how did it make you feel? what would you do if the situation were to arise again? what challenges arised? – these questions could help create your dilemma
references: there are no references or in-text references that have been used. It is best to add references to make your writing piece stronger.
writing: there are no grammatical errors or spelling mistakes noticed – but maybe for line 5 under background you could change are* to were* to keep the past tense throughout the sentence
All the best for your final submission – hope this helped
Erin
Hi Umar.
Thank you for sharing this story. It is really sad to read and it is especially prevalent in South Africa now, with the increase in gender-based violence. It is scary to hear stories like that about patients and it being your first block.
I liked how in the beginning you added a poem which links up with the piece you shared. Maybe just reference the peom if someone else wrote it but if you wrote it that is impressive. Your piece is rather short, you talk about your clinical experience but didn’t really go into detail. You can include how you felt, what you were thinking in that moment and what did you do. There isn’t also a clear ethic topic and thus no ethical dilemma and argument. You can include what dilemma did you face when you heard about this patient’s story, any problems that arised from this clinical experience, did you treat this patient differently compared to your other patients, how should you handle a situation like this, especially as a physiotherapy student, what would you do differently in a similar situation. I would like you know did you continuing treating the patient. You can maybe also add in the prevalance of gender-based violence in South Africa.
As stated before by Erin try adding in references and in-text references when you have established your dilemma to make your argument stronger. I also liked that you added a picture, but in your piece you mentioned about a flip flop and the picture is a slipper. So maybe get a picture of a flip flop.
All the best with the final submission