Tania, a survivor of rape in Haiti. © CAREOn the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, we start the 16 Days of Activism with a story from a rape survivor in Haiti.
Since the earthquake there’s been no running water. Tania*, the oldest of four children, is responsible for fetching water, which means a half-kilometer walk along a little-used road.
During one return trip from the well she felt a cold blade pressed against her neck. She turned around and smiled, thinking it was a joke, when she recognised the man threatening her as her friend’s boyfriend. “You move, you scream, and I’ll cut you into pieces,” he said. “I want to do it and I want to do it with you. You let me or I’ll kill you!”
“He took off my skirt and tied my wrists with it,” says Tania. “He didn’t stop hitting me with the flat of his machete and its point, until I collapsed.”
“I don’t remember what happened after that. I don’t want to remember. After he got up, he untied the knots and, still under the threat of his machete, he ordered me to walk. All around me it was dark, so I made a leap to escape.”
Tania’s mother, not seeing her return, had gone looking for her. “I fell into my mother’s arms and I told her what happened.” They went to the police to file a complaint.
“After taking my deposition, he advised me not to wash myself and to go to the closest hospital to have tests that are essential in order to prosecute. He congratulated me effusively for having filed a complaint against my attacker.
“That night was a real nightmare. Every time I closed my eyes, I felt the bite of the blade on my neck, the hot breath of my attacker and the weight of his body on mine.
The hardest thing for Tania was the visit of the rapist’s parents. They came to offer her money and anything she wanted, in return for asking the judge to be lenient with their son. “They went so far as to tell me to tell the judge that it wasn’t his fault.”
“It took me time and the support of my parents to understand I bore no responsibility for what happened. I thought mine was an isolated case but there were a lot of girls at the clinic for the same reasons as me. It was then that I understood why the policeman insisted that I press charges.”
“I will press charges and I will go to court in order to ensure that no other girl will ever be a victim of this guy. I want my testimony to help other girls understand that they aren’t alone and they are leaving themselves more in danger by remaining silent than by speaking up.”
*The survivor’s name has been modified for the sake of confidentiality.
