Perspectives on survivor speech

Culturally, we are very different in the sense that openness in terms of how much we talk about sexual contact or even sex in general – it is such a hush-hush topic. […] The first…

To be honest, from where I come from, I don’t think sex is that much of a taboo. I have talked about it, we have spoken about it, asked questions over and over again, we…

There are many, many violences perpetrated in the city I come from. I believe that not only should we have this policy in existence, but the effectiveness of the policy is very important. There are…

People from my culture are generally not vocal about sexual assault. They really believe that it can deteriorate their reputation in their community. These are some of the illusions that have infested the people from…

Participant 1: I wanted to know how many cases have been reported through this channel, and how did they go? Participant 2: Yeah! I think I am quite curious to know too. […] I know…

Personally, I feel like too many displays is not good because they just give out negative vibrations like, “this is what happened to me.” That’s why having some testimonials where they just say their emotions,…

The funny thing is, when I think about what I’ve said and what I’ve heard, when you have been sexually assualted, the last people you tell is your family members. Why? because you are feeling…

Participant 2: “Counselling” is such a formal word. Like, white people are used to counselling- we are not. We don’t have counsellors. So the way we talk about it is when we are at school,…

Participant 1: If I say that somebody is looking at me weirdly, I know…I feel like…not that everyone from Africa has been raped, but definitely, somebody has already gone through that. Facilitator: Or, you know…

Participant 2: Say you are the only African in the class. If something happens, you don’t even know how to say it because you feel – Participant 1: like, “oh, I am the only African.”…