Rape, rapes are still committed globally.
Young women tell me what they have suffered. And so often, their story resembles this testimony published 50 years ago!
To put an end to rape, all rapes.
“Such an ordinary rape, such an everyday imperialism” ”We hit it off because we had similar views on imperialism and the liberation struggle in our respective countries of origin. As far as I am concerned, he took the initiative to get to know me during a meeting in the foyer by saying to me: “I would like to discuss Vietnam with you because I believe you are Vietnamese. (...) Interested [in the subject], I accepted in good faith and concluded: ‘We'll see each other after the meeting’. After the meeting, we went to the café to talk. We didn't talk about it for very long and I quickly realized that the search for a discussion on the subject was just a good excuse to hit on me. He took my hand, finding it “warm”, moved his chair closer to mine and tried to kiss me. Embarrassed, I didn't dare push him away abruptly. I made it clear that I did not accept his advances by constantly withdrawing my hand from his and pushing him away when he tried to kiss me. But he insisted anyway, because he must have thought to himself, “she'll end up agreeing”. I then started a discussion with him about flirting with women, pointing out that, in order to flirt, men find lots of excuses to approach women with the intention of “fucking them”, citing my example (...). One day, he came to my door. I let him in because I couldn't do otherwise while trusting him to a certain extent (...). He forced me to kiss him, I pushed him away very angrily, I was determined to make myself clear. (...) Exasperated, I said to him: you have to go, I'm already very late.” He abruptly removed my hand from the doorknob, saying to me, ”I don't want to be made a fool of. I am not an object!!! (sic) that we manipulate as we wish (my refusal hurt his manhood)'. I told him that it was regrettable that this was how things were between us. I had no idea that this was how our meeting would turn out and that our relationship could have been different without his malicious intent. He took advantage of this lull in the action, came closer to me to say goodbye and then threw himself at me. He pushed me and pinned me against the kitchen sink and kissed me with force and with his hand he forced my sex. At that precise moment, I knew that he was really going to rape me, and I said to him: “You want to rape me to punish me because I humiliated you”. He didn't reply. He ordered me to enter the bedroom, which I refused to do. He lifted me up, I grabbed the walls and screamed for help. He threw me on the bed and stopped me from screaming, saying, “it's not in your interest to scream”. (…) He took possession of my body, as one conquers a land by violence, and wanted to punish me for resisting his masculine policy of domination. Power is at the end of the phallus, he confirmed this to me by raping me, thus affirming his “fascist virility”. (…)
Ouvrage Collectif, Les femmes s’entêtent, « Un viol si ordinaire, un impérialisme si quotidien, Maï », Gallimard, Paris, 1975, pp 188-210 – ouvrage précieux, non réédité, j’espère qu’il le sera à nouveau prochainement.
