AS a young writer, my only constant writing mentor has been myself. As such, I taught myself that silence through observation allows us to grasp the simplicities through the complexities. In other words, I observe to understand and then head to my computer and quiet space to write. I recently observed that many alleged victims are taking a stance to speak up against their abusers/abusive experiences. Most of these cases were sexual abuse/assault and/or entailed sexual grooming. While I am no lawyer or scholar of the law, I know that a person is legally innocent until proven legally guilty. Nonetheless, that should not allow us to mute the voices of alleged victims along with their stories. I have observed many instances where persons prepared rebuttals and have shamed the victims, accused them of lying and even tried to dig up past dirt on them. Some people did every other thing possible, except listening to alleged victims and their claims.

We have NO right to tell abused victims how to feel, when they should tell their stories, when they should go to legal authorities, which platforms to use when they tell their stories, what tone to use, what time of day or day of the month—whatsoever. Even if you were abused yourself; you still have no right to compel another victim because “this is how I handled it and so should you.” Every individual and their experiences are different. The same can be said for the way we deal with trauma and in this case; abuse. No one is asking you to believe an alleged victim’s story, neither are they asking you to feel pity for them. It can be liberating and also terrifying for victims to come forward with a truth that haunts them; a truth they wish wasn’t true. It can take many years for some people to process raw traumatic experiences while it may also take others to do the same in a matter of days—we’re all different.

The least we can do is show even a minuscule of human decency to people who may want to finally tell the world of their darkest days and expose monsters for who they are. These very instances of disregarding public statements of alleged victims in a country where rape culture is already glorified are more reasons as to why so many victims will remain silent. When sexual abuse victims “speak up”, the least we can do is listen. We have no right to tell a victim when, where or how they should speak out against their abuser—only their mind and body can.

Victims have been manipulated and controlled with their experiences so the minute they decide to take back that control then let’s listen and try to understand. Who are we to devalue the experiences of victims? Who are we to judge and compel them on how they should feel? We ought to do better Guyana. Yes, most accused are concerned with their reputation but we should not stop persons from having a voice. If you really are innocent then allow the law to prove it. With the same energy, be sure to use #MeTooGuyana to community support for victims, alleged victims and potential victims of sexual abuse and assault.