Scaring Your Pants Off

I want to take a few minutes of your time as you read this, to bring awareness to a pressing issue facing everyone in our society today. This is something that unfortunately, the ARROW Discovery Service in Australia estimates over FORTY FOUR THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED PEOPLE over the age of eighteen are subject to each year.  The Center Against Sexual Assault in Australia estimates that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men experience sexual assault by the age of 18, and only 1 in 6 reports of rape make it to the courts for persecution.

These are not just statistics we complete on our census forms. These are real people, who are in real pain, facing real trauma and lifelong side effects. I know because I am one of them and the effects do not go away, even years later. Recently, I experienced a re-awakening of the ripple effect it has on my life and in an effort to find helpful resources for myself and my fiancee, I searched for a video on YouTube, hoping to find some hope in the voice of another survivor sharing their story. I searched the following words: "my wife was raped" and these were the top 10 responses:

1. Did My Son Rape My Wife? 
2. My Wife Got Raped
3. Did My Son Rape My Wife?
4. You Raped My Wife!
5. You Raped My Wife! part 4
6. Auto Gang Raped a Wife in front of  Her Husband
7. Did My Son Rape My Wife?
8. "The U.S. Army Raped and Murdered My Daughter! Justice for pfc LaVena Johnson!"
9.  Hot Indian House Wife Raped Scene in Chitrangini Telugu Hot Movie
10. Hitlers Wife Was Raped!

Just typing in the phrase "I was raped" in the Google search box brought up these most commonly searched topics:

1. I was raped in prison
2. I was raped in prison yahoo
3. I was raped and now pregnant
4. I was raped in prison stories

On television, we see rapists get away with their crimes, victims shattered and broken, re-victimized and blamed for someone else s' shame.In the media, we hear all too often about young women, children, and even men who are assaulted brutally. It is sensationalised to the point that we as a mass community have disregarded the effects rape and assault have to a person. We forget that they need our help and support to re-build their lives and move on from their trauma.

Isn't it a concern that these are not only statistics, but people, and people we find everywhere. one in three women: just in my office, there are countless women and taking that statistic into account, there are most likely to be more than thirty who have experienced rape or assault. They are our mothers, sisters, cousins, grandmothers, aunties, wives, girlfriends. We love them and seeing them hurt is more pain than we could bare, and yet we have not banded together to say NO, THIS IS NOT OK. We have not come together as a whole to create a place of healing for our loved ones where they can take peace from broken pieces. Why have we not done this already? Why is there so minimal help and assistance available?

This post is dedicated to the women young, old or inbetween and their families, friends, colleagues or lovers who are all suffering the effects with little support to heal the raw wounds. I hope this article will spur you into thinking, or in the very least raise your awareness for the lack of support we choose to provide for our mothers, sisters, aunties, grandmothers, friends, wives, girlfriend or colleagues.


you are not alone.