Silence
Most victims of gang rape remain silent for months before reporting the crime. Obet Montes, coordinator for services of the women's group GABRIELA, says this is due to the victim’s fear of society’s judgment, of not wanting to be branded as “maruming babae” ("dirty woman"). The group says further that a rape victim becomes so afraid that she is going to be blamed for the crime, that she denies that she was violated.
Claire Padilla, a lawyer and advocate of women's rights who prosecuted the case of a 19-year old who had the mental capacity of a six-year old, says that a rape victim who keeps silent becomes easy prey for continued abuse.
Read more about this topic: Rape In The Philippines
Famous quotes containing the word silence:
“Women have seldom sufficient employment to silence their feelings; a round of little cares, or vain pursuits frittering away all strength of mind and organs, they become naturally only objects of sense.”
—Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797)
“Le silence éternel de ces espaces infinis m’effraie. The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me.”
—Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)
“There is not even silence in the mountains
But dry sterile thunder without rain
There is not even solitude in the mountains”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)