We Need To Talk About Rape
“We cannot have light without dark and we cannot have dark without light …We are no less important than the light for without us, the light would not know itself.” – Lucifer Morningstar, excerpt from THEY HIDE: Short Stories to Tell in the Dark coming April 7, 2023 from Brigids Gate Press
We Need To Talk About Rape
We need to talk about rape. As a girl growing up, the idea of someone violating my body in the most intimate way terrified me. I walked in constant fear of the boogeyman coming out from behind the bushes and dragging me back into the woods to violate that most private part of myself. It would keep me up at night. A tree branch scratching against my window was an intruder that wanted to have his way with me. The creak of the house settling was a rapist breaking in through the sliding glass door. I am still terrified of being raped in some dark alley or even within the sanctity of my own home. I do not believe I’m alone in this fear.
That is why I write about rape. It permeates through a number of my stories as my protagonists try to find a way out, to fight back, to stand in their power and not be defeated by one violent act. How can a rape survivor regain a sense of peace, of trust? How can they heal their soul, mind and emotions when their body is desecrated? How can they come out stronger for having survived such a cruel act?
