I wrote this when I was groped by a passerby one day.
I am pretty sure everyone who has been harassed at some point of their life shares my thoughts.
Rape isn’t just intruding into one’s body and space without consent, it is mind shattering, it destroys people inside and out.
I feel raped
When you pass by me like the wind, whispering
Whispering words that disgust me
That send shivers down my spine
When you pass by me and tend to think that you are just complimenting me for how I please you
Instead, you are scaring me
You are not calling me beautiful; you are not praising the Lord for creating me.
You are intruding me
My heart races; my blood pumps through my ears, I am scared, I am deprived in my own skin
I feel raped
I feel raped when you touch me
When you think I am your property to abuse
When you grope me or stroke me in public
There I stand perplexed about my next move. Maybe I have no identity to protect.
I am disgusted by my own existence, feeling foreign in my own body
I feel raped
When you look at me, when you look through my attire on to my body, into my skin, which even my clothes can’t seem to hide
When your gaze burns through my back into my soul.
When every shred of thread fails to protect me from your hovering eyes
I feel raped
Even when I walk alone, or with my family, or with my friends, just because I walk the streets?
Because I travel in the rickshaw, in the bus, on a bike, in a car?
Because maybe I am an infant without a mind?
A girl without a voice?
A lady without support?
A wife with hopes?
A woman with morals to look after?
A mother with responsibilities?
A teenager with dreams?
I am terrified of the passersby, of the drivers, colleagues, workers, teachers, students, of the boys, of the men!
I feel raped every day, not because I ask for it but because I was born to bear it
I know my modesty is not matched for your hooligan touch
I feel raped
Day in and day out
Everywhere because I don’t know where to run off to. Who to confide in? Who to cling onto? Who to look onto? Who to aspire from? Who to talk to? Who will understand me, understand this!
But above all I feel raped because I am told to compromise, to understand and be silent, to blend in with all others, to lower my gaze and never see the sky
I am quiet because I feel raped
By the stares
By the thoughts
By the vibes.
I feel Raped Because I Am Quiet.
*Disclaimer: This is an opinionated piece.
This is very powerful and honestly every woman has gone through this at times. The crude comments, the looks, the “accidental” brush pasts. It is something we are all born to bear no matter what you look like. It is something that we are stronger for, but we must make sure that we let people know, not really appropriate to talk or act to people like that x
Thankyou
Still trying to raise my voice against this further
It is a battle that we all have to fight, unfortunately it gets rather derailed when you get someone who says they dont mind it but hey each to their own 🙂 You keep going 🙂
I know right! When people ask you to ignore these factors and continue with your life. Life gets harder
Definately true. As a woman we should stand up against all of these kind of things 🙁 We may be women but we are people who have brains and we are smart and we should be taken seriously.
Absolutely 💚
This post I believe would connect with everyone who has faced eve-teasing and sexual harassment, I related with it and I’m so proud of you for sharing it!
Like you mentioned, It really makes the victims think its their fault, hence the silence and the feeling of guilt over something that was’nt even their fault in the first place.
Kathy
Read my prose poetry on the same topic by clicking on the link below.
https://freshlybrewedcontentmagazine.wordpress.com/2017/09/10/the-evils-of-eve-teasing/
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I am glad you liked it, sad that you could relate to it. I wish there comes a day we won’t be able to relate to such a feeling.
I hope for such a day to come as well, and I think that when we have more bloggers/ creators out there spreading such awareness and talking about such “taboo” subjects, then the change for better times is definitely not far off! 🙂
I hope that day comes soon! Let’s hope for humanity to win. Thankyou for your support 💜