The inspiration to write this post came as a result of what is happening in our society today.
Rape is the act of forcing sexual intercourse upon another person without their consent or against their will. We should note that anybody can be raped, either a man or a woman.
For the past 2 weeks in Nigeria, there have been so many rape cases. In fact, at least a rape case is been reported every blessed day. It is really getting out of hand and there have been different hashtags on social media to voice out against rape. People are protesting every day and even the legislators discourse about it on the floor of the house. Here is a link where CNN discoursed about the rape cases in Nigeria.
I believe rape is not limited to Nigeria, it happens all around the world and I have seen a lot of people talked about what to do to prevent rape. In this post, I will discuss what a rape victim can do after been raped and how to recover from it.
It is necessary to discuss this because people are been raped everyday and are ashamed to come out to say it. According to research, one out of every six women and one out of every 33 men have been the victim of a rape. Anybody that that has been assaulted sexually or raped may not know how to feel normal again. They may feel they will never recover from it or that it will never go away. They may feel shame, fear and depressed. The truth is that they can still heal, become better and feel normal.
Here are some tips for people that have been sexually assaulted or raped to recover from the pain.
Physical tips to recover:
You must know that it is important to seek medical attention. Even if you do not want to involve police, it is important to see a doctor in order to receive care for any injuries on you, to be tested and to receive adequate treatment for any infections most especially, the sexually transmitted ones.
It is understandable that you may want to shower in order to clean yourself from the mess but before you shower, try to see a doctor so that the evidence can be collected in order to try and convict your rapist. You might not want to press charges immediately, it is possible change your mind later. There are chances that your rapist has or will attack someone else. The evidence could be the difference between a conviction and another rape on another person.
The clothes you were wearing during the attack is very important, so do not wash it or throw it away. Put them in a sealed plastic bag to take to the police to be used as evidence.
Emotional tips to recover:
A lot of rape victim keep blaming themselves and keep asking why it happened to them. You should know that you are not alone. One out of every six women and one out of every 33 men have been the victim of a rape.
Always know that different people responds differently to a rape or sexual assault and that all what you feel, however unpleasant, are normal feelings. It is normal to feel depressed, humiliated, confused and so on.
Know that you don’t have to blame yourself for what happened. It is not your fault that you were raped. Many victims tend to feel as though they are somehow responsible for the rape but it is not true. Only the person who committed the rape is the only one responsible for the act.
Another common thing that happens to the victims of rape is that they tend not to trust people anymore. It may take quite some time to rebuild this trust in other people. It is not easily rebuilt like any other thing else, it takes time.
Mental tips to recover:
It takes time to recover from a rape or sexual assault and it is a complicated experience. There is nothing to be guilty of if you cannot easily get over it.
Regaining feelings of control over the environment is part of the healing process from a rape or sexual assault. It is common to feel out of control. Normally, the rape took away your control and you must fight to regain it back.
It takes a long time to rebuild feelings of safety, trust, control and self-worth. That is actually okay.
Another important thing to do is to ask for help. Don't hesitate to ask for help. Even if you need help from a counselor or therapist, please ask. If you need help finding a support group, if you need help going to the grocery store and getting chores done, please ask someone for help. There is no indignity in acknowledging that you cannot do it all alone.
PLEASE LET US SAY NO TO RAPE