A sobering Valentine's Day

Distressed by the news from South Africa this morning, I spent a few minutes on google; how frequent is murder by a partner or ex-partner, I wondered.  Here, for your perusal, are some chilling statistics from the UN:

Women aged 15-44 are more... at risk from rape and domestic violence than from cancer, car accidents, war and malaria.

Half of all women who die from homicide are killed by their current or former husbands or partners.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo approximately 1,100 rapes are being reported each month, with an average of 36 women and girls raped every day. It is believed that over 200,000 women have suffered from sexual violence in that country since armed conflict began.

Between 100 and 140 million girls and women alive today have undergone Female Genital Mutilation.

So I spent today not celebrating love, but mourning for those whose lives have been broken by that violence.  And, as sad as it made me, it somehow felt more productive than resentfully flicking candy hearts across my desk and into the wastepaper basket.  Kyrie eleison.