Sexual assault survivor stories get spotlight during “Asking for It” exhibition at Umana Yana

Apr 06, 2025 Features / Columnists, News, Waterfalls Magazine

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By Shania Williams

Kaieteur News-  One of the most sensitive and emotional topics to talk about is sexual assault. For many particularly women and children, it’s a struggle, an internal battle between speaking out and staying silent.

This past week, as Guyana joined the rest of the world in marking April as Sexual Assault awareness month, the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security’s Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Policy Unit (SO&DVPU) has partnered with The Imperial House to host a powerful seven-day exhibition titled “Asking for It”

The exhibition opened on April 1 at the Umana Yana in Kingston, Georgetown and will run until April 7, 2025, from 10:00 hrs to 18:00hrs daily.

The exhibition is an important part of the awareness initiative, featuring stories of survivors about the impacts of sexual assault.

The Waterfalls visited the exhibition, where students across Georgetown were actively engaged in powerful lessons about sexual assault.

At the time, students from Grades 7, 9, and 10 from Queenstown Secondary and St. Joseph’s High school participated in essential discussions on their rights and boundaries, contributing to the theme of “Building Connected Communities.”

The students were encouraged to create placards raising awareness about sexual assault. Many of them spoke passionately about the importance of the topic. One student shared, “I think it’s a good discussion. It is nice outreach to bring awareness for us who are not fully educated about it. Some of us didn’t know that some activities would be considered as sexual assault. I think it was really good.”

A Venezuelan migrant student shared her first-time experience at an exhibition on sexual assault.

“I came here in 2023, the exhibition was nice, I would come back here again, it was my first time learning about this, “she said.

The students also shared a message of encouragement for survivors of sexual assault, urging them not to be afraid to speak out. “If you don’t want to do it for yourself, do it for someone else,” one student said.

Understanding Sexual Assault

Sexual assault is defined as any form of sexual violence inflicted on an individual without their consent. According to officials from the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, sexual assault encompasses unwanted sexual activity, including sexual touching, coerced touching, or indecent assault.

Consent is an essential component of any sexual activity. If a person’s consent changes—from “yes” to “no”—that decision must be respected immediately. If the activity continues despite a change in consent, it is considered sexual violence, which could be classified as rape.

Sexual assault often occurs at the hands of someone the victim knows, and it can take place within the home. However, reports of male victims of sexual assault are rare due to societal biases and norms that often depict men as perpetrators, not victims.

Survivor stories

The exhibition also presented 15 powerful stories of survivors, along with the clothing they wore during the assault, challenging harmful societal misconceptions.

Some victims were depicted in school uniforms, work attire, and casual clothing, showing that sexual assault can happen to anyone, anywhere.

To protect the identities of the victims, names were changed, and some details were summarized, but the essence of the stories remained true.

The exhibition aimed to shed light on the trauma caused by sexual assault, with each survivor’s story evoking strong emotions in visitors.

Here are a few of the stories shared at the exhibition:

Assaulted at school

Mikayla,

 15 years old.

“It was a Friday afternoon after school, I was attending Secondary School; the route was a walk along camp Street to the bus park. I wasn’t alone it was me and some friends, there were some older guys in 5^th  form that were behind us, they were walking behind us and one of them had a reputation for touching younger girls inappropriately but the school never did anything, so on this afternoon he got closer behind me and grabbed my breast. My instant reaction was to slap him, and when I did, he spat on me and whispered “don’t behave like you’re all up there”.

The next day at school I brought my mother with me to complain, the school said I was wrong for slapping him and instead of speaking to him I was suspended for three days because I slapped the guy who sexually assaulted me.”

Mikayla shared a message for other victims: “Don’t ever feel guilty; it was not your fault you were sexually assaulted: – you are loved, you are special, and you didn’t deserve it. You are not defined by what happened to you, you are more than your trauma, you are still beautiful, and you are still valuable.”

Raped by my spouse

Amanda,

 31 years old.

“For four years, I endured a nightmare with my common-law partner. At first, it seemed like just a few angry outbursts that any couple would have, but then the physical abuse started.

He’d hit me for the smallest reasons, grabbing me by the throat or pushing me to the ground. I learned to keep quiet, to hide the bruises. But the worst part was what happened when I said no when he wanted sex; because who wants to have sex with a person who abuses them? Those feelings went away a long time ago. He didn’t care. He’d force himself on me, over and over. It didn’t matter that I was crying, scratching him, begging him to stop. He’d just ignore me, and take what he wanted.

I tried to leave the relationship, but he always found a way to bring me back, manipulating me, stalking me, and making me believe I had nowhere to go. After my mother passed away, I thought I could get some peace, by staying on her property. But he followed me there too. He won’t leave. I’m scared to even be alone with him. I’m here now, asking for help. I need to get him out of my life for good. I can’t live in fear anymore.”

Assaulted at church

Shanique,

7 years old.

“It was two weeks before my birthday. We were having a play at Church about the birth of Jesus. I played “Mary’ where I was dressed in a white sheet and only my underwear underneath. After the play I left to use the washroom where l was cornered by a deacon from a visiting church. I didn’t recognize him from my church but his name tag read, “Deacon Randolf”.

I was promptly pushed to the floor while he pulled the sheet up my legs and stuck his fingers between my legs. I remember freezing up like my body couldn’t move and my voice wouldn’t come out. When he ran his hand up my chest while the other stuck a finger into my vagina, I started crying loudly and ended up peeing myself. Someone had knocked on the bathroom door and that’s when he scrambled to get off of me. He threatened that if I told anyone he would find me after service and kill me. I never said a word growing up even when I began to self-harm. In 2016, I had attended a family reunion and had two beers above my alcohol tolerance. I fell asleep in one of the rooms in my grandmother’s house and woke up to feeling sore between my legs and saliva on my knee.

Unfortunately, that’s when repressed memories resurfaced.

From there I suffered continuous nightmares, panic attacks, paranoia and became reclusive. I never ventured into crowds, l avoided the opposite sex, I hated intimacy of any kind and simple actions would trigger me to the point of overreacting. I joined therapy in 2020, got better and was recommended a therapy dog. I now take diazepam when the insomnia hits or when things become really bad, I drink heavily. I am not healed but I am doing better.”

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