~sparking conversations about Guyana’s rape culture

IT started out as a single post on Facebook, creating a much-needed conversation among young men and women to address the gross rape culture in Guyana.
Led by a 19-year-old, Nasha Hackett, the ‘rape is rape’ Facebook page and the United Care Corps Organisation was created after a series of rape stories shared by young teens in Guyana went viral; however, much to their dismay, the victims who were brave enough to share their stories suffered serious backlash and victim- blaming, instead of support and encouragement.

This spawned an idea for Hackett, hence, she created the now popular Facebook group as a safe space for everyone to share their stories of rape and sexual assault.
Hackett added that she decided to go public with the stories, since many of the perpetrators have not yet suffered consequences for their actions.
In the group, Hackett would feature screenshots of detailed messages of women and girls who were raped.

Hackett, who currently resides in the United States of America, noted that she has managed to assist, roughly, 40 young girls in having their stories heard, along with making several reports to the Guyana Police Force.

“It all depends on what the victims want to do: someone would rather tell their stories just so people could know and others would want something to be done For the ones that {sic} would want something to be done, since I’m in the US, one or two of the admins would assist them to the station so they can make a report,” she stated.

After seeing a tremendous response from victims and supporters alike, Hackett moved along to create the United Care Corps Organisation, which now includes six members, including herself.

She noted that while the Facebook page is still continually active, she wanted to create a more organised environment to assist the young women who come to her with their stories.

Hence, she opted to create the NGO, which she hopes in the future will bring more than just a voice for those who cannot speak out, but also security, compassion and counselling.