I JUST WANNA WALK HOME

17/11/22

November 25th is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Click HERE to download the Weekly English Practice as a PDF.

Useful vocabulary

worldwide: extending or spread throughout the world; everywhere in the world.

sexual harassment: persistent unwelcome directing of sexual remarks and looks, and unnecessary physical contact at a person, usually a woman, especially in the workplace

blunt instrument: heavy object without a sharp edge or point, used as a weapon

creep: a peculiar or disgusting person

dead phone: a phone that has no battery power or is not working

bouncer: security, usually on the door of a disco

knuckles: the joints where our fingers bend

slag: an insulting, sexist term for a woman who has a lot of sexual partners

Listen to the audio and read the text.

I JUST WANNA WALK HOME

Some 47,000 women and girls worldwide were killed by their intimate partners or other family members in 2020. This means that, on average, a woman or girl is killed by someone in her own family every 11 minutes. In 2021, in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Mercedes worker Erika Tavares, was murdered by her ex-partner. Her fellow workers staged a symbolic strike to reject violence against women.

Statistically more than half of murdered women are killed by a man they know, but thousands of women face sexual harassment and violence, and are murdered by strangers.  

In a 2020 report on femicide in the UK, it was recorded that men who killed women did it in various ways, including: use of knives and sharp instruments, strangulation or asphyxiation, blunt instruments, hitting, kicking and stamping.

Click here to hear this song by Josie Proto, and follow the lyrics in the text.

l left my hair in the taxi ’cause the driver was a creep

Chattin’ on my dead phone just so he can see

I was careful to show my face on the CCTV

Told a joke to the bouncer so that he’d remember me leave

[Chorus:]

So I guess that’s where we are

Isn’t it amazing what I’m contemplating to get home?

You okay with where we are?

‘Cause I see nothing changin’, it’s beyond frustratin’

I just wanna walk home

I just wanna walk home, home, home

I’ve got my keys in my knuckles, my headphones in my bag

Jeans again ’cause if something happened, it’d be ’cause I’m a slag

And I don’t keep a list of my sexual history

But if something were to happen, it’d be because of me

[Chorus]

Talk to your mum, it’s not like this thing is new

They used to keep it quiet

Told there was nothing they could do

Well I’m not gonna have the same conversation with my daughter

[Chorus]

Put together by ECP coach John Hird

Let’s chat about that!

  1. Do you know any more statistics regarding violence against women?
  2. Is your city and neighbourhood safe for women?
  3. What is the message of Josie Proto’s song?
  4. Do you know any more songs about this issue?
  5. If you are a woman: Does the song reflect your reality?
  6. Why is the word ‘slag’ sexist? Can men be slags?
  7. What are we going to do about violence against women? How can it be eliminated?