As of this writing, seven women have been killed in the area this year alone, allegedly by boyfriends or husbands. On a national scale, women are being raped, assaulted and abused in the military, even while at war. And women's safety is threatened in North Dakota by the influx of men chasing the oil boom ("Oil boom putting pressure on women," June 3). When is society going to see women's safety as a priority? Why are these abuses tolerated? Where are the good men courageous enough to speak out? Women should be marching in the streets. It's still a man's world, and that has to change.

GAIL DIEZ, White Bear Lake