Relationships October 30, 2017
Too many of us can relate.
#Metoo
Too many of us can relate.
Me too.
If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote “Me too” as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.
Everyone who is on social media must be aware of the #metoo hashtag, which sparked an online campaign about sexual harassment and abuse. According to the analysis by data scientists at PRCO Studio, around 3.6 billion people interacted with tweets using the trending hashtag and over 5 billion people saw the tweets.
The total population included approximately 69.9 percent females and 30.1 percent males. Which clearly shows that men also face similar assaults. Men were seen responding with captions like — “REAL MEN ARE FEMINISTS!” and the hashtag #HowIWillChange.
The trending hashtag made us realize how common and major the problem is. The many people you would have seen as happy, strong individuals are sharing their stories, and how they have healed.
On the other side, there are people who are still unhealed, or who don’t have enough courage to speak up. Whichever side you’re on, the burden of going through sexual assault is the same. It can lead to low self-esteem, low self-confidence, trust issues, post-traumatic stress, depression and many more psychological, mental and physical symptoms.
But there are ways we can help each other to get through this. Here are seven things we can do to help someone who has experienced sexual assault or any kind of inhuman behavior.
We live in a society where if sexual assault occurs, we are inclined to judge the victim and what they could have done wrong, and label them with unkind names — as opposed to blaming the actual wrongdoer — the abuser. Just listening to an assault survivor can help with their pain or suffering.
If you know someone is going through the emotional pain of sexual assault, try to initiate conversation with them, this will help them talk about it.
While listening, try to understand the severity of suffering from her/his point of view. Patience and support can help the survivor to recover fast.
If a survivor wants you to keep things private, then make sure you don’t let them down. Gossiping or sharing it with someone without their consent could shake their ability to trust others. It’s their right to heal themselves first and gain back their strength to talk about it with others. It’s their story to tell — or not — if they so choose.
If it’s someone very close to you who needs help, be there regardless of excuses, rejection, defensiveness or denial. It is not their fault. When a person survives sexual assault, most of the time they end up feeling guilty, thinking it was their own fault. Reassure them that it was not their fault.
A survivor, in most cases, starts socially excluding themselves. Help them to come out of that zone.
Take them to a counselor or psychologist, because a professional can help them to recover more efficiently by healing the trauma.
Don’t take your power for granted. One person can make a difference – even if it’s just in one other person’s life.
