Hello there readers! It's finally the end of the week and also spring break (for CUNY students)! It has been a long and sad week for me but I am so thankful its Friday so I get to do the thing I love (which is blogging of course and disturbing peoples peace hehe). Its also easter weekend for many people around the world (haven't forgotten y'all my Gh peeps). So basically the plan this week was to talk about something else but then I changed my mind due to a reason you will soon find out.
The end of 2017 was literally a godsend as victims of sexual abuse from all over came out of the woodwork talking about their traumatic experiences. It was also an era of accountability as people in power (e.g. Harvey Weinstein and co) were being held responsible for their sordid deeds. However, even with the victims bravely recounting their stories in America with a supportive society rallying behind them, other victims from other parts of the world have not been able to do the same. Why? Well we're about to get there.
There is the fear of stigma involved in coming out about being sexually abused. I grew up in a community where women and girls who reported being sexually abused were asked 'what were you wearing' or 'why did you go there?' Even today with the little progress my community has made with listening to sexual abuse stories, I still see jokes about rape on my social media timelines. Around the world,women and girls are being blamed and called villains for something that happened that was beyond their control.
My post today is actually inspired by a young girl who was burned to death because she had the courage to speak out and report sexual harassment. Her name was Nusrat Jahan Rafi and people around her felt that they would rather pour kerosene on her and watch the flesh burn off her bones than hold responsible the headmaster who made unwanted advances on her person.I saw an instagram post today as I scrolled through my explore feed. The caption was 'Desi parents would rather kill their children for honour for being in a consensual relationship than hold the uncle that harassed their daughters responsible'. It is a sad day in this world when you know that it is the 21st century and victims of sexual abuse are being slut shamed, harmed, questioned, further traumatised and even killed for being brave. We as a community, as a society MUST do better. We must provide safe spaces for victims of abuse and we must not judge victims for the crime of a perpetrator. We. Must. Do. Better.
Rest in Peace Nusrat. May Allah grant you Jannah.
It’s sad how the world has turned a blind eye on victims of sexual assault especially on the less privileged in our society. It’s about time the discussion started on this social menace. We were all equally created by God and one must not be superior to the other. #sexualassualt #society #community #advocacy