At a time when we find ourselves amidst a sea of negativity, it is easy to be washed away by the current and what is easier still, is to diagnose the ailment without treatment or cure.
She looks at him and knows the things he wants to say, these things are written across his face. He looks at her and feels so weak; he wants to speak but fears it's too late. What could he say to take it all away?
When the damage cannot be undone, damage he cannot even comprehend. He wracks his brain counting every step he took away from her, had he stayed longer could he have... had he stayed a little bit longer. She looks at him, broken inside and says "I'll be fine" a line that seems like a mountain to climb.
His heart is heavy so there's no reply.
The silence is deafening to both of us but I cannot retreat into my mind. I run my fingers through my hair and scratch, a way to cope with the awkwardness. As dandruff falls onto my shoulders like snow, little flakes of memories fall onto my consciousness: his force, the smell of his saliva on my face, the hurt over and over again.
The sound of his belt buckle echoes in my head over and over again with only the sound of her cries to stifle it. I sit and watch the tears fall from my mother/sister/girlfriend/daughters eyes and feel a sense of failure as a protector and with pain swelling in my own eyes I consider taking another man's life.
We say NO to accepting rape, violence, and abuse as a norm.
Now that we know, a woman is raped every four minutes in South Africa what can we do to stop the violence, to protect ourselves and others from this brutality?