For the few stout-hearted women, they find the courage to go against their perpetuators in the court of law. It is a challenging exercise for the victims as their body remembers and reacts to the fear they had lived with for many many years. Their stories, so embedded in their hearts, are spoken in haltingly as if unsure that it happened, the hurt and pain once more well up in their eyes. As they re-live the hell and once more feel the shame, the anger wells up within them and the venomous hate makes them speak viciously –the complexity of emotions shuts them down and depletes them of energy. The utter fear and pain they feel at having to face their perpetuator even from behind jail bars or from across the courtroom keeps them awake at night, zombie-like for the days leading up to the meet-up.

There is hardly anything one can say to help them walk through the pain. They are inconsolable, and no matter how many friends and supporters they have along they way, they walk alone.

For them, all we can do is listen. Receive their pain. Witness for them and remind them of their strengths. They cannot forget in the dark what they know in the light.