Openness must to prevent sexual abuse: victims
A 18-year-old girl who spoke about abuse.
By SAKSHI BAGRI
GUWAHATI : Most of the time, sexual harassment victims know their attackers. It might be anyone, a friend, teacher, or a relative, however, when the act takes place, it always devastates the victim.
An 18-year-old girl from Guwahati, who cannot be named, talks about how it was somebody she knew betrayed her trust when she was 14 years old. She said, “I was at a party and the person tried to first get close to me and when I moved away from him, he grabbed me from behind and touched me inappropriately.
She said it still affects her, “It is not easy to let go of a memory where someone who you thought to be a good person tries to touch you inappropriately, making you feel disgusted,” she added.
In another case, it was a 12-year-old, who didn’t like the touch of her maths tutor or the things he told her. In spite of her young age, she could still sense that there was something ‘wrong’ about the behaviour of her maths teacher and shared her concern with her parents. The good part was that her parents supported her and fired the math teacher.
She said, “My parents had told me about bad touch and good touch, so as soon as I realised what he was doing, I told my parents.” The mother said “Parents need to maintain a relationship with their children where they can talk about anything and talk about these issues.”
In yet another instance ofabuse , a married woman, who also spoke on condition of anonymity., She told how she felt uncomfortable around a family member when she was newly married into a family 20 years ago. She said, “I did tell my in-laws about the person getting too close to me but they told me to let it go as it was a family member.” She said that she regrets not taking an action at that particular moment and regrets not standing up for herself. She said, “You can’t trust anyone, not even family.”
These incidents leave a permanent scar on one’s mind and especially if the person is somebody familiar. The 19-year-old said, “It still affects me as sometimes when I watch people stand up for themselves against their abuser I realise, I was wrong to not take any strict actions at the very moment as I still feel the guilt of not having to do what was right and just letting go of a very dark person.”
Sexual harassment is common and the abuser can be anybody, the women mentioned that they regret letting the matter go and not complaining about it. It is also important to teach children about the same, to educate them about sexual harassment.
The story first appeared in The Times of Bennett, the lab newspaper produced by the first semester students of The Times School of Media.
Join exciting programmes offered by Bennett University
An 18-year-old girl from Guwahati, who cannot be named, talks about how it was somebody she knew betrayed her trust when she was 14 years old. She said, “I was at a party and the person tried to first get close to me and when I moved away from him, he grabbed me from behind and touched me inappropriately.
She said it still affects her, “It is not easy to let go of a memory where someone who you thought to be a good person tries to touch you inappropriately, making you feel disgusted,” she added.
In another case, it was a 12-year-old, who didn’t like the touch of her maths tutor or the things he told her. In spite of her young age, she could still sense that there was something ‘wrong’ about the behaviour of her maths teacher and shared her concern with her parents. The good part was that her parents supported her and fired the math teacher.
She said, “My parents had told me about bad touch and good touch, so as soon as I realised what he was doing, I told my parents.” The mother said “Parents need to maintain a relationship with their children where they can talk about anything and talk about these issues.”
In yet another instance of
These incidents leave a permanent scar on one’s mind and especially if the person is somebody familiar. The 19-year-old said, “It still affects me as sometimes when I watch people stand up for themselves against their abuser I realise, I was wrong to not take any strict actions at the very moment as I still feel the guilt of not having to do what was right and just letting go of a very dark person.”
Sexual harassment is common and the abuser can be anybody, the women mentioned that they regret letting the matter go and not complaining about it. It is also important to teach children about the same, to educate them about sexual harassment.
The story first appeared in The Times of Bennett, the lab newspaper produced by the first semester students of The Times School of Media.
Join exciting programmes offered by Bennett University
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