Thread by @zilevandamme

Yazin’ many of us suffer is silence to protect our tormentors be it physical, emotional or psychological abuse. It’s time we starting speaking up about our personal traumas and stop protecting abusers.

For three year a blatant lie has been repeatedly perpetuated that I beat up a kid at the V&A. I kept quiet and endured the added trauma of being portrayed as a violent brute who beats up children. This look like a child to you?

I have kept quiet & not corrected this because I was told that I would not be punished for self-defense. I was told not to report the matter to SAPS. Right now I’m in a legal battle with the DA which is intent on punishing me for defending myself while an MAN reached & grabbed me

Let me not say “the DA,” rather “some in the DA.” I will not tell you the psychological abuse I have had to endure at the hands of those people & the hours in therapy. My silence has not protected me. Your silence will not protect you. Speak up. Always.

Oh, I recorded the incident because like many women, I instinctively knew that women are not believed. I am not believed. There is not a shred of evidence for not believing me, but yet, here we are. Workplace abuse is real. Do not ignore it.

I suppose I represent a political convenience. It’s better that the narrative be out there I beat up a child. I, stupidly, fell into this trap because despite repeated red flags, I always try see the good. I ignored the red flags. I kept quiet & 3 years later, here I am, broken.

And “broken,” is a grave understatement. Sometimes you do not know how bad a situation is until you explain it to someone else and you realize just how badly you have been treated and just how badly it has affected you.

YOUR SILENCE WILL NOT PROTECT YOU.

Oh, and this is not even half the story. It’s a tiny sliver. I wait for the day the catharsis of writing my story in full will bring. I fear it, my hands tremble. But I will find the bravery to write it so that I be a lesson in how silence in the face of abuse does not protect.

Bring on your dogs of war. If there’s one thing the torment has taught me is the danger that is a gentle person that has been hardened. I have walked through the depths of hell, there is nothing you can do to me that you haven’t already and I survived. Barely. But I survived.