While thousands of rape survivors suffer in silence following their harrowing ordeals, a brave young Durban woman chose to speak out.
Reese Kelly Crawford is a well-known KwaZulu-Natal TikToker who often shares her funny and blunt stories via the popular app.
Last month, Crawford took to her account to share how she was raped by someone she knew personally.
“I’ve been going back and forth with myself on how to words this statement,” she starts the post.
“So I’m just going to put it as the best way I know how to right now.
“Sunday, July 12th, I was raped. I was in an environment where I thought I would be safe and could trust the people around me because it was my friend’s family,” Crawford said.
She said she was woken up at midnight and froze.
“You tell yourself if I was ever in that situation, this is what I would do, until it actually happens to you. I just laid there and cried until it was over,” Crawford said.
She shared how she reported the matter while her attacker went into hiding.
The suspect has since appeared in court and investigations continue.
Speaking to IOL, Crawford said she has been outspoken about human rights and the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community.
“When it first happened, I wanted nothing more than for him to be locked up but my parents said I should stay silent at it could hurt the case,” she explained.
“In that time I was made to feel like I was to blame for it I’ve been told to my face that it’s my fault that I was raped I put myself in the situation now I must deal with it.”
She said detectives were getting information and names wrong, and she’d lost faith in police.
"I knew that by telling my story, I would show other people that they should be strong enough to talk out about it and it shouldn’t be something that they should be made to feel ashamed of, or that it’s their fault,“ Crawford said.
She said she is still experiencing emotional abuse over her decision and she had no one to turn to.
“So many people have told me about their stories and it made me realise that this happens so often and so many women just keep quiet because they’re scared,” she said.
“I was not about to be another statistic that was left with another untold story and no justice.”
KZN South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesperson, Colonel Robert Netshiunda, confirmed that the suspect has since been arrested.
"Pinetown Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit detectives have arrested a 25-year-old man for rape, following an incident in which a 23-year-old woman was allegedly raped by a suspect known to her," he said.
IOL News