#forgracewithlove

Pictures of sunshine are spreading around New Zealand after the guilty verdict for Grace Millane’s murder. Grace was described by her family as their “sunshine”.

So let’s make sunshine go viral globally in memory of Grace. A beautiful young woman with a bright future who was cruelly taken from this life by a man who thought he had that right.

There is a lot of talk in the media about Grace’s sexual practices. Let’s stop victim blaming. Having kinks and acting on them isn’t shameful, there’s nothing wrong in being a sexually active woman. There’s nothing wrong in exploring BDSM. There IS something wrong in doing so without explicit consent.

As the judge said, Grace did not and could not (legally in NZ) consent to her own death.

I know his (the murderer’s) name is being said on social media. In New Zealand he has name suppression and we can’t (legally) name him.

And we shouldn’t.

Yes he killed her, yes he covered it up, yes he was found guilty. No we shouldn’t name him because too many times do we know the names of killers and not of their victims.

Let Grace be a reminder, a name and a face for all the women who have been murdered, not just in New Zealand but across the globe. Women that we don’t have names for.

Let us use our grace, our dignity and our aroha (love) to flood the world with sunshine and honour all victims like Grace.

Please reblog and add your own pictures of sunshine. Spread the light.