CONFLICTED

Chapter 24| BRT

She took in a few breaths to calm herself down before looking up at the gathering, staring into empty space.

"It took years before Anna finally opened up to me about her past and that alone clearly indicates that she had trust issues. But first, how did I come to know her and how did she end up with us? Nothing short of fate was what brought us together that particular day in a BRT bus..."

Third person POV

✧So many years past being raped, I tell myself what happened in the past is in the past. This is only partly true. On one too many way, the past is still with me. The past is written on my body. I carry it every single day. The past sometimes feels like it might kill me. It's a very heavy burden.

___Roxane Gay in HUNGER

✧Since then I've always thought that under rape in the dictionary it should tell the truth. It is not just forcible intercourse; rape means to inhabit and destroy everything.

___Alice Sebold in LUCKY

✧I just want to sleep. A coma would be nice. Or amnesia. Anything to get rid of this, these thoughts, whispers in my mind. Did he rape my head too?

___Laurie Halsey Anderson in SPEAK

✧I was too trusting, too naïve. I felt like it was all my fault. It would take me years to accept what now seems obvious: rape is not a punishment for poor judgement.

___Chessy Prout in I HAVE THE RIGHT TO

✧The truth of it is, the shame was not mine, and for all the victims in similar situations, it's not ours. The shame is reserved for every creep who has ever touched us inappropriately. The shame is on the abuser, not the victim, not the survivor. It is tragic that so many of us have to survive this kind of crap, and I'm so sorry if it has happened to you.

___Rose McGowan in BRAVE

•If I'm strong, it's only because I've been weak. {Play no more by babyinacorner}
•Take comfort in knowing that life is more painful than death. {Play no more by babyinacorner}
•There are times when I want to watch the world burn, but that just means I should burn with it. {TGGBB by Rubixcube89201}
•Show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy. {F. Scott Fitzgerald}

~~~
Warning¡: the following contains graphic scenes of violence, rape and bloodshed. Discretion is advised.

It's the same old story, just a different name. And today's name is Annabelle Rose Johnson.

Rape. It is just as bad as killing a fellow human without remorse. The willingness to force your way on anyone at the expense of his/her pain. It's become something we hear day in day out, over and over again a gazillionth time everywhere in the world. A father rapes his three months old baby... University student brutally gang raped, loses her life in the process... Stepmother rapes her fifteen year old stepson... Toddler sexually assaulted by his uncle.

A viral disease that kills souls whether they physically survive it or not. They said if we could understand the cause of rape, we could tackle out a solution to it. What do you think is a valid reason for such an heartless act? Is there a justifiable reason to rape? Do I need to stop wearing miniskirts in the streets as a girl? As a man, must I have sex with my boss to get promoted? Why does everyone victimize the victim? Am I safe from rapists if I wear long skirts and hideous blouses? When do we speak up as victims? Why do rapists continue to go scot-free?