I WAS RAPED! WHAT DO I DO part 1
In a country where a gangraped woman is sent to jail for going back on
her statement in court, justice for sexual assault survivors is still a
far cry.
In India, South Africa, Nigeria, amongst others, the prevalence of gang rape has become the other of the day, neither the laws, or our society or even our immediate family members are helping matters. The judge, my father, my brother, my husband, my mother-in-law and the biraadari—they are collectively raping my head. Still,” says Kiran.
"names have been changed"
“Don’t cry, they want to break you down through character assassination,” the counselor tells her “Can you tell that to my father and my husband?” she says.
On 28 September 2012, Kiran was at her parent’s place in Banwasa,
when Sunita, a neighbourhood housewife, gave her a message that her
husband Sudeep had come to meet her near a local railway crossing.
As soon as she reached the outskirts of the village, two men of Khandrai village— Sunil and Sanjay—kidnapped her and took her to a rice field on the Gohana-Kakrohi road. They were later joined by Anil of Ahmedpur Majra village and Sarvan of Hadtari village. Two of them pinned her hands down while the third and fourth raped her. “They laughed as they ripped my clothes with a blade and described my body parts to each other. I was a toy they were trying out.”
Kiran registered a case with the Sonepat police. It took over a week to arrest the four rapists and Sunita, who had allegedly helped them.
WAS THAT THE SOLUTION? LETS PAUSE FOR A SEC.
Amongst other gang rape victims was this pathetic and touching brutal gang rape and mutilation of Anene Booysen, 17, was
found brutally raped and left for dead in Bredasdorp Western Cape. She has since being laid to rest, but still fresh in the minds of so many of us when we sit back to remember, as we know its easier to forgive than Photo courtesy of City Press She managed to identify one of her attackers before her death. Three
men have been arrested and are due to appear in court.
On Friday, hundreds of people marched through Bredasdorp, chanting "enough is enough".
South Africa has the highest number of reported rapes per head of population of any Interpol member country, with more than 64,500 reported in 2011/2012/2013
Even when suspects are caught, only 12 percent of cases end in conviction and sex crimes seldom cause much public concern.
The Women's League of the ruling African National Congress is trying to mobilize the public into similar action to the protests against anti-female violence that took place in India after the New Delhi attack.
On Saturday, South African media reported police had arrested a Johannesburg pastor for luring a woman into his church and raping her.
For some people they may have been sexually assaulted by their parent, clergy men, friends or robbers, or is the list endless.For the fact that most people will pretend not to believe their story is enough to make them commit suicide or even become sadist, trouble makers, haters or even murderers. If you have been a victim of rape, not to worry, try to get help from medical experts, always try to do the necessary things possible.
WHAT THEN CAN BE DONE IF ONE HAS BEEN RAPED.
After a rape or other sexual assault, a woman may understandably be afraid that undergoing a physical exam will seem like yet another violation. Other normal feelings vary from person to person, but these may include:
HIV can be addressed.
Your chances of having contracting HIV from a rape are less than 1%,
and likely the virus will not be apparent immediately. But if you do
test positive for HIV, the treatment can be started right away.
Counseling can begin. Rape crisis therapists are often available for confidential counseling.
All information known to medical personnel about you and the rape is
protected by each country's health Organisations.
The Rape Kit
Your chances of successful prosecution depend heavily on the evidence in your rape kit, and you only have one chance to get that evidence -- immediately after the rape. You do not have to decide immediately whether to report the rape to the police. You can collect the evidence and decide later on whether or not to report it to the authorities.
We hope you will decide to report your attack to the police. While there's no way to change what happened to you, you can seek justice while helping to stop it from happening to someone else.
Reporting to the police is the key to preventing sexual assault: every time we lock up a rapist, we're preventing him or her from committing another attack. It's the most effective tool that exists to prevent future rapes. In the end, though, whether or not to report is your decision to make, reporting can seem invasive, time consuming and difficult. Still, there are many good reasons to report, and some victims say that reporting helped their recovery and helped them regain a feeling of control.
In India, South Africa, Nigeria, amongst others, the prevalence of gang rape has become the other of the day, neither the laws, or our society or even our immediate family members are helping matters. The judge, my father, my brother, my husband, my mother-in-law and the biraadari—they are collectively raping my head. Still,” says Kiran.
"names have been changed"
“Don’t cry, they want to break you down through character assassination,” the counselor tells her “Can you tell that to my father and my husband?” she says.
As soon as she reached the outskirts of the village, two men of Khandrai village— Sunil and Sanjay—kidnapped her and took her to a rice field on the Gohana-Kakrohi road. They were later joined by Anil of Ahmedpur Majra village and Sarvan of Hadtari village. Two of them pinned her hands down while the third and fourth raped her. “They laughed as they ripped my clothes with a blade and described my body parts to each other. I was a toy they were trying out.”
Kiran registered a case with the Sonepat police. It took over a week to arrest the four rapists and Sunita, who had allegedly helped them.
WAS THAT THE SOLUTION? LETS PAUSE FOR A SEC.
In Nigeria, gang rape is recorded and even posted on line, In the rape video, which lasted well over an hour,
the girl could be seen trying to fight off these animals-in-human-skin.
When her efforts proved abortive amidst beatings, she resorted to
pleading with them to spare her; but her pleas fell on deaf ears. And
when she could not take the excruciating pain any longer, she begged
them to kill her, instead of let her live with the stigma our society
would pile on top of her already horrendous trauma. As she pleaded with
them, the boys laughed and mocked her, asking her to ‘co-operate’ or
face two more days of torture by rape.
The incident, which is believed to have occured in Abia State sparked outrage nationwide.
But
newly elected President of the Students Union that the crime was not commited on
ABSU campus.
A Nigerian Lawyer said "that is not a
problem because assailants chose frrom where to operate and their
targets. So he will please have to tell all he knows about it, where it
happened and Miss X's whereabout, who has been kept incommunicado since
the incident or may not have survived the attack."
IN SOUTH AFRICA
On Friday, hundreds of people marched through Bredasdorp, chanting "enough is enough".
In Nigeria “Some legal experts have told us that it may be difficult to convict the
rapists because the video does not reveal the face of the victims.
South Africa has the highest number of reported rapes per head of population of any Interpol member country, with more than 64,500 reported in 2011/2012/2013
Even when suspects are caught, only 12 percent of cases end in conviction and sex crimes seldom cause much public concern.
The Women's League of the ruling African National Congress is trying to mobilize the public into similar action to the protests against anti-female violence that took place in India after the New Delhi attack.
On Saturday, South African media reported police had arrested a Johannesburg pastor for luring a woman into his church and raping her.
For some people they may have been sexually assaulted by their parent, clergy men, friends or robbers, or is the list endless.For the fact that most people will pretend not to believe their story is enough to make them commit suicide or even become sadist, trouble makers, haters or even murderers. If you have been a victim of rape, not to worry, try to get help from medical experts, always try to do the necessary things possible.
WHAT THEN CAN BE DONE IF ONE HAS BEEN RAPED.
After a rape or other sexual assault, a woman may understandably be afraid that undergoing a physical exam will seem like yet another violation. Other normal feelings vary from person to person, but these may include:
- Fear of being judged by doctors or nurses
- Fear of others finding out about the rape
- Shame or guilt
- Numbness
- Degradation
- Do not bathe or shower.
- Do not comb or brush your hair.
- Do not change your clothes or shoes.
- Do not douche.
- Evidence can be collected. Physical evidence that may identify and convict your rapist can be captured and stored in what's called a rape kit.
- Internal injuries can be assessed. Some injuries that you can't see or feel can only be detected by examination.
- Pregnancy can be prevented. If you are not using contraception, morning-after emergency contraceptives that contain progestin-only can be prescribed to greatly decrease the chance of pregnancy. It is highly effective and has fewer side effects than morning-after pills containing both estrogen and progestin.
The Rape Kit
Your chances of successful prosecution depend heavily on the evidence in your rape kit, and you only have one chance to get that evidence -- immediately after the rape. You do not have to decide immediately whether to report the rape to the police. You can collect the evidence and decide later on whether or not to report it to the authorities.
We hope you will decide to report your attack to the police. While there's no way to change what happened to you, you can seek justice while helping to stop it from happening to someone else.
Reporting to the police is the key to preventing sexual assault: every time we lock up a rapist, we're preventing him or her from committing another attack. It's the most effective tool that exists to prevent future rapes. In the end, though, whether or not to report is your decision to make, reporting can seem invasive, time consuming and difficult. Still, there are many good reasons to report, and some victims say that reporting helped their recovery and helped them regain a feeling of control.
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