Skip to main content

LET’S TALK ABOUT RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT TODAY!!


 I want to get on my knees
to scrub everywhere
but no amount of soap will make me clean
or get his actions out of my mind.
How do I cleanse myself from these cuts
that have now become scars?

Sex without consent is simply rape and rape is a heinous crime that destroy lives and it’s important that we all take a stand against it.
1 in 4 women is sexually assaulted or raped every day and this should not be the norm.
It’s important to understand that rape is not just a physical act of violence, it’s also a violation of an individual’s trust, autonomy and dignity.

Rape culture is when a society or environment whose prevailing social attitudes have the effect of normalizing or trivializing sexual assault and rape.

Most societies tend to label sexual assault allegations as drama.

·       They blame a survivor for their abuser’s future abusive behaviour because they didn’t report them, instead of blaming the abuser.

·       They refuse to believe a survivor without a conviction or charge against their abuser.

·       They think that perpetrators are strangers in alleys and not our family and friends.

Rape culture encourages a distressing pattern where the initial response to victims who disclose their assault is often “why didn’t you report earlier?” Such questions do really contribute to victims not wanting to report their cases cause;

·       They’re afraid of not being believed.

·       The fear of the justice system.

·       They thought they deserved it.

·       They tried to talk it out but nobody listened.

·       Intense feelings of guilt and shame.

Because of trauma, when testifying in court survivors can struggle to verbalise their experience. This can eventually affect their ability to recount the details of sexual assault and thus the outcome of the case.
We need to fight for more courts where survivors can be heard
.” – Rapecrisis.

Sexual assault, rape and sexual violence can have profound effects on our brains. It’s essential to understand the serious consequences this trauma can have on survivors. The brain undergoes significant changes the “fight-or-flight response which can lead to

·       Feelings of fear, helplessness, depression and/or intense anxiety.

·       Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD); where a survivor experiences flashbacks, nightmares and/or intrusive thoughts related to the event.

·       Dissociation; where survivors may dissociate as a copying mechanism, feeling detached from their own bodies or experiences.

·       Trust and Intimacy issues; sexual assault, rape and sexual violence can erode trust and make it challenging to form a healthy relationship and engage in intimate connections.

 

There’s no healing without acknowledging the presence of the injury. You will be fine. HEAL.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

AWAKENING: STORIES UNTOLD, STORIES UNHEARD AND STORIES UNREAD

Correct me if I am wrong, but I remember all the words you like to say behind closed doors. She whispered in my ear “I take you as you are and you will be. I won’t try to change you but I will ride out change with you. I see you and I will never ask you to be less or more.” With words so charming and full of meaning, that’s how she destroyed me. I have been awed and terrified by the experience of being in love to the extent that when it’s love, I’d rather close the book and put it back on the shelf. I do not know how to hate no matter how much I have been wronged. I met Tuseke when I had gone for my usual check-up at the hospital. She was there to visit her grandmother who was gravely ill and on admission. She had asked for directions to get to the elderly female ward, that was just the same way to Doctor Mayepi’s office. My all time go to health practitioner. We walked hand in hand and talked about a few things on science and medicine. She hated being around the hosp...

LOVE LETTER TO TOBI

  Tobi; You are the chapter that I didn’t know it’s words. No matter what takes place, my heart will always choose you. Like a bedtime story book, I will open my chest and read to you all my love. I said; “I want to relearn love in a beautiful way.” and I knew the universe remembered me the day that I met you. You have given oxygen to the parts of me that were suffocated, energy to my broken bones. Your name belongs at the tip of my tongue, I want to speak of you and with you all day long cause there’s a certain kind of magic in your name. I want to wrap my entire body around yours. I want the love that ravishes and envelops me. My hands long to hold you, to lace my fingers all over your lips, to feel the whole of you on my skin, to breath your scent and fill my lungs with your precious cologne.   Kegi….

STRETCHING MY FAITH

  As I step into this new month, I stretch my faith beyond what I can see, believing in the power of your greatest miracles and divine intervention. I refuse to be limited by the constraints of my own understanding, instead, I choose to trust in your sovereignty and goodness. Your word reminds me that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1), and I cling to this promise, knowing that you are faithful to fulfill your plans for my life. I refuse to be paralyzed by fear, for I know that it is not from you. Instead, I choose to embrace challenges as opportunities for growth, knowing that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). I am not defined by my circumstances, but by my identity in you. I proclaim that I am a force to be reckoned with – not because of my own strength, but because of who I am in you. I have poured out, sacrific...

AKAPUSA MUDYERE

Misonzi yachimwemwe idatsikira mmasaya mwa Sitelia kuchoka mmaso mwake. Sadathe kukhulupirira kuti loto lake lakwaniritsidwa. Zinali ngati kuti ali mtulo ndipo ali kulota. Chapatali potero Waisoni adakhala chete mkumaonerera mwambo wonse wa ukwati wa mkazi wake wa kale. Adakumbukira mmene amkamutukwanira komanso kumunyoza mkazi yo pa nthawi imene adali limodzi, mtima wake udagunda koposa ndipo anamva kuwawidwa. Kwa iye mkazi anali kalopo koposa ndipo amkakhulupirira kuti kumtchenetsa mkazi Kapena kumuyambitsa bizinesi kunali kutaya nthawi komanso kuononga ndalama chabe. Tsiku liri lonse Sitelia adali akukhala odandaula ndinso kugona ndi njala limodzi ndi ana ake awiri pamene Waisoni adali kupita kuzisangalalo kumene amakadyako mang'ina, zibwente, tchipisi ndi fuloze. Amkapita kunyumba atakhuta ndipo amkangofikira phiii kugona. Khalidwe li mkazi atafika potopa nalo anayamba kuyenda yenda mnamakasaka chakudya cha iye ndi ana ake ndipo waisoni analibe nazo ntchito. Pamene mkazi yu ada...

CHAPTER 28

The truth failed to set me free. I do not know how to speak the truth without it sounding like an apology, But I am learning to share the room with peace. You said these broken pieces won't fit together, But I have out grown those words and will shrink to fit, For courage has greeted me. Drop me here and leave me be, This is just a chapter not my whole story....