This
art work is inspired by
KC, 50 years of age, survivor of 2 rapes, one at 14,
one in her thirties.
" One thing I
always think about being a victim, now a survivor, I live a life sentence. Once
I was a victim the first time I was stripped of my freedom. I haven't gotten that
back in my fifty years. Freedom. They walk the streets and I live a life sentence.
I'll live it to the day I die - I can't shake it."
"When both rapes
happened, I learned the impact of fear - there was a knife in the first one and
the second was physically violent so … I'm always worrying 'what if' … so I try
to avoid it at all costs."
"knowledge - the more I would try to
learn and read, the more I learned about rape. I would pick up bits and pieces.
I would learn I was normal. Knowledge is the one that saved me."
"
When a rape is reported, someone has to step in who can be strong for that person,
because that person's not strong."
"You're kind of like a leper,
too, if you've been raped."*
Some people think it is no big deal to touch
women or to have sex with women without their consent because women fantasize
to have sex and to be touched. They are too shy to express their wishes. In fact,
no women like having sex under threatening and being humiliated. The crime can
bring long-lasting trauma to the victims.
*Reddington,
Frances P. and Kreisel, Betsy Wright (edited) .Sexual assault : the victims, the
perpetrators, and the criminal justice system, Durham, N.C. : Carolina Academic
Press, 2009, p.75. / |
