Fourteen years ago, on 15th June in 2003, I was sexually assaulted by someone I knew.
Afterward, I did not know what to do and what not to do nor who to talk to about it. Back then, information was not as readily available as it is now thanks to the Internet. The common narratives around sexual violence against women were that it is always their fault, as evident by questions survivors may be asked like, ‘What time was it?’, ‘How were you dressed?‘, and “What did you do to provoke the man?’
The lack of information coupled with victim-blaming and the trauma from the ordeal made it hard for me to find immediate help. Later, my unchecked trauma was diagnosed as bipolar disorder.