Tag: Zwelinzima Vavi
Why I didn’t report my rape #16
Sitting at school, they started talking about child abuse and I was 15 when I realised it had happened to me, I think. What good is reporting about something that happened when I was 6?
Why I didn’t report my rape #15
Because I didn’t know it was rape.
Why I didn’t report my rape #14
I didn’t report my rape, because to this day – almost seven years later – I still flip-flop between whether or not it was actually “rape”. It’s funny, if it had happened to anybody else, I probably would say that it was a rape. But because it’s me, well… Anybody who knows me knows that I blame myself for everything. And that night I knew what I was doing, up until a point – I thought I had control of the situation, until I clearly didn’t.
Why I didn’t report my rape #13
I was raped at four years old by an “uncle”.
Why I didn’t report my rape #12
X is my cousins best friend. We got together at my cousins 21st many years ago, and dated for about a year. I called it off, for a variety of reasons, the most important being that I knew he wasn’t someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I knew that he felt differently.
I reported my rape – and wish I hadn’t #11
I did report my rape but I wish I hadn’t.
Why I didn’t report my rape #10
I have never told a soul, except for my GP who I saw the next day for HIV tests etc
I reported my rape – and was victimised #9
Struck a cord. Difference is I did report. I walked into the police station after being beaten blue, nose swollen, blood all over my shirt from my nose, shorts in tatters from being ripped with a knife, one eye blue and swollen closed. And I was victimised by the police.
Why I didn’t report my rape #8
I never reported my rape. First of all because I could not recollect everything that had happened, even though I do remember the crucial parts.
Why I didn’t report my rape #7
The alcohol and the exhaustion from the continuing chronic insomnia finally caught up to me, and I had to find a corner and sit on my hands to stop myself from glassing my rapist.
Why I didn’t report my rape #5
I had incredibly low self esteem as a child and teenager, my family had moved around a lot and I always felt like an outsider. I had had one very brief, naive relationship, and wasn’t really sure how to go about dating, but I was very lonely, and desperate for someone to take an interest in me in the hopes it would somehow validate my existence. A 19 year old who worked as a waiter where I also worked seemed to take an interest in me.
Why I didn’t report #4
That’s the last bit I remember. A few hours later I woke up in his arms. He was asleep. I was fully dressed, thank God. However, I kept wondering what he had been doing to me while I was asleep. I wanted to throw up. I really hated the guy, and no matter how drunk, I could not imagine getting in this situation willingly.
Why I didn’t report my rape #3
I knew I would be judged, I knew I would be blamed, I knew I would be ridiculed and called a liar and I never would have spoken out had it not been for my suicide attempt.
Why I didn’t report my rape #2
I was a 21 year old student when I was raped. A guy I had known for a few months, spent a lot of time with violated me. He wanted us to see each other on a more bf/gf sense but I wasn’t interested in him. Nonetheless we continued the friendship my friends I knew… Read More ›
Why I didn’t report my rape #1
Note: Less than a day after news was broken of an allegation of rape against Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi and vicious rape myths are already circulating in public discourse. These myths hurt all rape survivors. The most common myth I have picked up so far is that fallacy that, because Vavi’s accuser has not opened a police case, she must be lying. I put out a call on Twitter for survivors who didn’t report to send me their story. I will be publishing them as they come in.
Michelle Solomon 