By Pechuqui Laurata*
When I started my sensitization online against Gender Based Violence, Someone texted me on my twitter handle. He asked "Are you going to accused a boy of rape if the girl willingly visited him?" My reply was yes .Then he asked my reason for saying yes. I began by stating he had sexual intercourse with the said girl without her consent and that's rape. We went on and on and he finally understood my reasons for that. Many people do not understand what rape is.
Rape is the forceful penetration of a penis into another person's vagina without her consent. From that boy's story, the girl had reported the perpetrator but the community blamed her for it. This is what is happening in most of our communities today. The victims are being treated as the perpetrators while the the perpetrators, the victims. This happened to someone I loved dearly when I was Ten. I remember she was raped by someone we all grew up with. He was above twenty. He was known for playing with children and giving them things. He portrayed himself as someone who loved children meanwhile he was just looking for a means to get his way. One Sunday morning, one of my friends pleaded we go to his house but I refused. Her intention was to return his CD. She was 9 then. When she left, after an hour we heard a loud shout. She had been raped, threatened and send out of the house. When I got to where she was, all I could see was tears running down her eyes and blood on her legs. Her mum was called immediately and she was rushed to the hospital. The perpetrator was arrested but later released and he walked freely in the quarter. Nobody asked him anything. I remember that before my friend was rushed to the hospital, a group of people at the scene were blaming her saying repeatedly "See where her short skirts have landed her. She deserves it. Hope she has learned her lesson". That was just a tip of an iceburg.
She was attacked, humilated and insulted by her friends and people in the neighborhood and unfortunately, she stopped leaving the house. It got to the point where her family could no longer see their child suffer and had to leave town for her to have peace of mind. I felt sad. My question is why did the community blame an innocent and naive young girl and allow the perpetrator to walk freely in the quarter? Is it that they saw her as a spoiled child at that age because she was fund of wearing short skirts?What about children who have been raped not even because of what they wore? We need to search ourselves.
These are some of the reasons victims of Gender Based violence find it difficult to report their perpetrators because of fear, insults and also they believe that the won't get married if their stories are out. That's why some victims are dying in silence everyday especially when their perpetrators are family members or too close to us. To everyone out there reading this, before you insult or blame someone's daughter why don't you think. What if she was your sister, friend or mother would you insult or blame her? Will you allow the community to blame her?I bet you will not. We need to employ empathy instead of sympathy. We need to create a safe place for victims of rape to report their perpetrators. We need to fight against this obnoxious crime which is killing and bringing down the esteem of women by making the perpetrators pay. The world will never be a better place if we keep supporting violence. Especially violence metef on women and girls. Your voice is important to this fight no matter who and where you are. We can't live in a peaceful, fair and just world if Violence against Women is still at it peak. Let's Say No to
#Rape.
#WeCanWinThisFight
#WeCanDoIt
#Let'sSayNoToGBV.
*Pechuqui Laurata is a 20 yrs old Cameroonian student, currently studying Communication and Development Studies at the University of Bamenda. It has always been her dream since childhood, to become a journalist. She is passionate about women, and about the creation of a safe place where they can be treated fairly. She is an advocate, a prolific writer, reporter, volunteer and a motivational speaker. She uses everything that happens around her, being it good or bad, to create awareness.
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