What’s left unsaid

The same has been said over and over again, the results are still wanting and though various campaigns have been launched in aim to curb this down relentlessly, the issue with rape is still common and show no signs of stoppage.

While some will feel comfortable in expressing their emotions others prefer to keep their feelings inside. Some will tell others right away, others will wait weeks, months, or even years before discussing the assault, if they ever choose to do so.

Guilt, shame, self-blame, nightmares, depression and low self-esteem this are some of the reaction that rape survivors go through. Though the media shows that most victims of rape are women, which am not disagreeing with the ignored probability of men being raped is left unsaid and unspoken.

National Sexual Violence Resource Centre says that one in five women and one in 71 men will be raped at some points in their lives, nearly one in ten women has been raped by an intimate partner in her lifetime, including completed forced penetration, attempted forced penetration or alcohol/drug-facilitated completed penetration.

Most of this sexual offenders still walk around feeling all high and mighty, simply because there is no way of tracking them. Unlike other countries such as America where they have kept a watchful eye of convicted sexual offenders after their release back to the community this is not so in many African countries the blame can be attributed to lack of resource, maybe.

Survivors of rape have had difficulties in naming the person responsible, some are too overwhelmed with the trauma to even speak or have the exact recollection to make sustainable case. Most of the memories are horrific and still in fragments and it scares them to have to relive it in their mind.

Though it’s not consolation enough to see that this sexual offenders are put behind bars not to the rape survivor but, it’s a step towards taking back your power and helping the next woman or man. The names of this people or their descriptions should not go unsaid.