How To Heal And Get Your Life Back If You Have Been Raped
- Yinka
- July 3, 2019
- Cover, Living
- Coping With Being A Rape Victim | FabWoman, how to handle being raped, rape victim coping, sexual assault healing
- 0 Comments
Rape is such an ugly act, and many women have experienced it at some point in their lives. Recently, people and celebrities have summoned the courage to explain details of how they were sexually molested or raped when they were younger.
This was after Timi Dakolo’s wife, Busola Dakolo, finally summoned the courage to reveal how she was allegedly raped by COZA pastor, Biodun Fatoyinbo.
Read: Every Woman Should Know These 3 Date Rape Drugs And How To Avoid Being A Victim
Many people accuse her of just coming out after 20 years, but rape comes with a stigma that, even 40 years is not too much for one to finally tell his or her rape story. Also, if a rape story doesn’t ‘add up’, it really doesn’t count as ‘false’ because the psychological problems that come with abuse are numerous. So, do not worry about people not believing you. Their opinions don’t count.
Here are ways one can cope after being raped:
1. Talk to someone
It’s not so bad to let people close to you know what happened to you. This way, they can know the various ways to help you, how to take drastic actions on the rapist, and how to make you recover faster.
2. Practise Self-Care
Many people think that after being raped, then they have no dignity or pride anymore. This isn’t so; even those who died from being raped lost nothing but their lives. You are still who you are despite being raped, and as long as you survived it, you don’t have to wallow in shame or defeat.
Get that job, earn that certificate, attend that event. Live your life normally knowing that you are a rape survivor. Help others by telling your story so that they may all beware of any potential danger from rapists.
3. Join support groups
Support groups have people who were also raped, sexually abused or know someone who was sexually abused. These groups also consist of people who weren’t abused, but understand the different issues other people face.
If you join a support group, there’s no way you can’t recover from the stigma.
4. Seek Professional Help
It will be a great idea to seek professional help as a form of therapy.This can help soothe the pain triggered by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD) which is the most common disorder seen in victims of rape and sexual assault.
5. Become a humanitarian
Create awareness for ending rape in your society; you can make donations for a campaign so that intending rapists would not attempt to cause any harm. You could join NGO’s and humanitarian foundations related to your case in order to educate, learn and also finally recover.
Also, you can volunteer for so many other causes. It could be against child labour, unemployment or human trafficking.
