Yesterday the 23rd of March. #Rusilent was trending on Twitter SA.

Silent Protest 2011

Yes yesterday was the Silence Protest. I still remember the Silent Protest 2011. I cried in public like never before and by 7pm my body was tired and my soul was sad from all the “Rape Survivor” T-shirt my eyes had seen. But never in my life was I so proud of myself for taking part of something s big, so important, so real. Giving up on water, food and the ability to speak for a day. Giving up on this for a day to “affirm our solidarity with the survivors silenced by rape and sexual violence” because “freedom of speech is denied to survivors of sexual violence”. I think it's a memory that I will always remember and cherish. Last year the statistics were, 1 in 9 rape are reported to the police. Knowing that in South Africa a woman (especially if she's black) has a 55% chance of getting raped at least once in her life. Knowing that in 2010 around 72 500 woman were raped in SA and only 1 out of 9 reported it and out of those who did report it only 4% successfully persecuted. 1 in 9 that's more than 70% offenders that walk around free, talking to us, talking to our friends, becoming our friends, our family. This year the statistics are 1 in 20 rape are reported! One in 20 do you realise what this means! That out of 20 person who got raped only one will report that rape. That's so much more people who let sex offenders silenced them, who let them have power  over them, that so much many victims.

I personally think that more universities should get involve in this, more countries. They always say that in the western countries there is less rape, we don't know that. All we know is that people don't talk about it. At age 19 I am sure that I have met around 10 people that were sexually abused and I just didn't know about it. People only see what they want to see, until reality hits them in the eye like a big pizza pie and trust me it's not always love. Sometimes it hurts, and then you can so mad that you forget that you were hurt and you want to scream. But you know it won't change anything that it's too late, that they've been trough those feelings and worst. Their heart have been thrown up and down, it was been crashed, crushed in little pieces and slowly but surely taped back together and put back on track. They found the strength to stand up, to trust again, to not be a victim anymore and talk about it. Because life and love made them understand that it wasn't their fault, that rape isn't a disease that they hide to the world, that they didn't bring that up on themselves and that their life doesn't need to be completely destroy.

I have to admit I cry a little every time I discover that a friend of mine was abused, every time I hear someone was abuse by a friend, a acquaintance, a family member, by anyone. My heart hurts inside. For a few seconds I have to admit, when I see the “Rape Survivor” T-shirt that's all I see, when I hear “I was abused; I'm a survivor; it happened to me too” that's all they become. For a few seconds that's all there is. Rape rape rape rape they were raped how do they live how do they trust someone how do they trust me rape rape rape rape what should I say can I still get them drunk and laugh about it rape rape rape rape shame they are so nice and so pretty I should do something oh my god I want to scream rape rape rape RAPE. And during that time we forget that they are still standing in front of us, we forget that it must have been harder for them to admit than for us to hear it, we forget that the fact that they were rape doesn't define them and shoudn't change anything about the way you feel about them. After those few seconds that turned into minutes of confusion all we can do is look at them, admire their courage, love the fact that they trust us enough, maybe give than an hug and agree that tonight vodka shots are on you! Cause we love them that much more for simply being who they are.

PS, I recently read the words of a rape survivor. I have to admit that I felt stupid, stupid because this person wrote about how people who weren't rape feel during one of those protest and the person was right. Stupid because like the person say in one or two weeks I would wake up and maybe I won't think about rape. In a few weeks it won't hurt me that much anymore even if I am crying now. 

But I don't want to feel stupid anymore, as i read the rest of this person words I see that what happened shouldn't change the way I feel about myself (just like I said before it shouldn't change the way i feel about this person), what happened shouldn't change anything. Except maybe how much I get involve in the war against rape, male or female.

-Raise awareness against female and male rape. Not only once a year but every day of the year, every day of your life until you can no longer speak about it, until you can no longer breath.-