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:
“There is a silence where hath been no sound,
There is a silence where no sound may be,
In the cold grave—under the deep, deep sea,
Or in wide desert where no life is found,”
—Thomas Hood (1799–1845)
“The tension to mother the “right” way can leave a peculiar silence within mother daughter relationships—the silence of a mother’s own truth and experience. Within this silence, a daughter’s authentic voice can also fall silent. This is the silence of perfection. This silence of perfection prevents mothers from listening and learning from their daughters.”
—Elizabeth Debold (20th century)
“Despots play their part in the works of thinkers. Fettered words are terrible words. The writer doubles and trebles the power of his writing when a ruler imposes silence on the people. Something emerges from that enforced silence, a mysterious fullness which filters through and becomes steely in the thought. Repression in history leads to conciseness in the historian, and the rocklike hardness of much celebrated prose is due to the tempering of the tyrant.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)