Reclaim the night

Though Eve was made from Adam's rib
Nine months he lay within her crib
How can a man of woman born
Thereafter use her s** with scorn?
For though we bear the human race
To us is given but second place
And some men place us lower still
By using us against our will

If we choose to walk alone
For us there is no safety zone
If we're attacked we bear the blame
They say that we began the game
And though you prove your injury
The judge may set the rapist free
Therefore the victim is to blame
Call it nature, but rape's the name

Chorus: Reclaim the night and win the day
We want the right that should be our own
A freedom women have seldom known
The right to live, the right to walk alone without fear

A husband has his lawful rights
Can take his wife whene'er he likes
And courts uphold time after time
That rape in marriage is no crime
The choice is hers and hers alone
Submit or lose your kids and home
When love becomes a legal claim
Call it duty, but rape's the name

And if a man should rape a child
It's not because his spirit's wild
Our system gives the prize to all
Who trample on the weak and small
When fathers rape, they surely know
Their kids have nowhere else to go
Try to forget, don't ask us to
Forgive them -- they know what they do

[Chorus]

When exploitation is the norm
Rape is found in many forms
Lower wages, meaner tasks
Poorer schooling, second class
We serve our own, and, like the men
We serve employers -- it follows then
That bodies raped is nothing new
But just a servant's final due

We've raised our voices in the past
And this time will not be the last
Our bodies' gift is ours to give
Not payment for the right to live
Since we've outgrown the status quo
We claim the right to answer "No!"
If without consent he stake a claim
Call it rape, for rape's the name