Fingers pointed
Claiming she’s whorish & lying
Suffering in silence
Fingers pointed
Claiming he should be ok with it Part VI
Suffering in silence
1 in every 3 women they say.
I say,
There are WAAAY more
Every 2 minutes in the US alone
That means 720 today?
I say,
There are WAAAY more Suffering in silence
Victim or survivor
A party to an ultimate violation In the hands of an unbalanced person’s power The use of sex blurring the lines
Remember 30 alone in this hour
MOST Suffering in silence © S. N. Harrell 2011
Note: 60% of sexual assaults are not reported to the police. 15 of 16 rapists will NEVER spend ONE day in jail. (RAINN.org)
I wrote this because I want to scream every time I hear about a woman, man or child that has been sexually assaulted/raped/molested.
It hurts me to see when people, especially women, are victimized there is the reaction that she/he/they did something to deserve it, or that the person is lying (especially if a powerful man is involved).
The statistic that a person is not being honest about their sexual assault is between 2% and 8%. There are greater odds of having depression, getting cancer, getting an STD/STI, being an ethnic minority in the US, being addicted to a substance, being a millionaire, or having an advanced degree (i.e. Master’s, PhD, MD, JD, etc.) than of anyone lying about being the victim of sexual assault/rape.
And even worse only 10% of men report it when they are rape/sexual assault victims.
So … yeah – I want to scream. I want people to stop blaming the victim/survivor & to be aware … THAT is part of my spiel … the rest … is the poem …
Also, the statistics in this come from RAINN.org (and some from Wikipedia)
Poetry: Feel, Express, Experience 
this was a hard read…and felt the pain, the loss..i work with kids doing couseling and have to help them through some pretty harsh things…sexual abuse being one of them so you struck a nerve…
By: brian on July 27, 2011
at 11:20 AM
Brian, I really try to make my poems elicit some emotion; and given that you felt the pain – it means a lot to me! Thank you, very much, for your feedback :).
By: S. N. Harrell on July 27, 2011
at 11:54 AM
wow. this is powerful, as naming the truth always is. i have no doubt whatsoever that there are wayyyyy more than we know, suffering in silence as you have said, and i think this poem speaks for any kind of serious abuse.
maybe the worst part is the blaming the victim. families do it, abusers certainly do it, authorities and the legal system do it, and victims do it to ourselves.
it’s remarkable, because just before i checked my blog comments and saw yours, i was writing to a friend about this very subject. synchronicity. thank you for visiting my blog!
By: coalblack on July 27, 2011
at 1:45 PM
You’re welcome (you’re a deep poet). And Thank You for your comments & visit. I think this subject is going to come up more & more because were moving (slowly) towards a society that recognizes the pain people go through.
If you write and publish about this I look forward to seeing it! I won’t be surprised if I cry! I know I did when I was done with my first draft of this!
By: Sheera on July 27, 2011
at 1:51 PM
I wrote about it here, Sheera:
http://fireblossom-wordgarden.blogspot.com/2010/09/human.html
on my main blog. i hope you find it meaningful. it was hard to write.
By: coalblack on July 27, 2011
at 3:34 PM
Thank you. Anytime we share something personal, especially the struggles, it can be emotionally taxing. So thank you for sharing!
By: S. N. Harrell on July 27, 2011
at 4:46 PM
Thank you for sharing this. It is beaufitul and tragic and is so much more. I have been in those shoes. Please visit my blog http://www.victimnomore.wordpress.com if you get a chance. I started the blog to share my story. To share my experiences and the fallout of what happened to me. I want it to be a place where others can come to see that they are not alone. I hope to get some conversations started and be able to be a friend to those who have been through what I have.
I am also a supporter of RAINN and Pandora’s Aquarium. If you have not been to http://www.pandys.org you should check it out. You may find helpful or useful things there. You may also be able to give love, compassion and support to someone else who has been through what we have.
Brightest blessings to you and again, thank you for sharing this.
By: wtfhappenedtomyreallife on July 27, 2011
at 4:40 PM
Thank you for visiting my poetry blog. And especially thank you for enjoying the poem. Also, I hope that whomever visits here will utilize the website resources that you provided, in addition to RAINN. I know there is a lot of support out there for people who’ve been abused (I just think we need more – but I always think people could use more love and support). Again, thank you for visiting. 🙂
By: S. N. Harrell on July 27, 2011
at 4:48 PM