Wounded to Death: Stories of Gender Violence by Serena Dandini

Wounded to Death is a collection of monologues/stories about femicide. The monologues are told from the victims voice. The victim's death isn't always a result of domestic abuse it can be something as simple as being a female fetus, unwanted because the fetus is not male. It can be a woman who has lost her life due to "honor killing" or a woman who is brought into a country illegally to work, as a maid, nanny or prostitute.

The statistics on femicide are astounding.  "Just think: every four hours, an Indian bride is killed by her in-laws for not delivering the agreed-upon dowry" (pg. 57), Russia has only ONE domestic violence crisis center for every three million women and  in Italy femicide takes place every two or three days, giving it the highest ranking for the killing of women.

Their are no names giving the monologues more power, move voice because there is no infamous name recognition or face. You can easily picture someone you know and love being subjected to these horrific acts. The monologues are heart breaking, especially when you take a moment to realize that while you are safe and comfortable someone else is in agony or dying due to the hands of another human.

Dandini has tackled a difficult subject matter with finesse and heart. This read is also educational, I learned about the use of  Oradexon on girls and young women in the sex industry. Look it up you will be outraged. My one complaint about this book is that it does not discuss femicide in the United States.  I looked it up and will leave you with this statistic Femicide,  is one of the top five causes of premature death in the United States for young women from 20 to 49 years old.