“Shame must change sides”. This is the strong phrase of Gisèle Pelicot, who was drugged by her husband for years so that many men would rape her. The trial, which took place in France, shocked the world. “Thanks to all of you, I have the strength to fight this fight to the end. I dedicate this fight to all the people in the world who are victims of sexual violence. To all these victims, I want to say today, look around you, you are not alone,” said the victim of these attacks this week. Sexual violence is not isolated, it is structural and this is attested by the data and indicated by numerous testimonies, such as those collected in recent weeks on the Instagram account of a Canarian woman.
The profile ‘hastaelKonejo’ (@hastaelkonejo) has been collected since August More than 500 cases of abuse, harassment and machismo against women in the Islands in which they refer to men in their environment such as family members, doctors or teachers… Their testimonies also refer to others who have been linked to a football club or the world of culture. In his profile, he explains that the initiative was born this summer with the intention of not focusing on sexual violence and linking it to immigration.
“It started ‘by chance’. We all know that we are all victims of sexual violence throughout our lives, in one way or another. Today, we want to attribute sexual violence to migrants, but this violence is not new, it is in fact historical. In addition, when a minority group of the population is singled out, the weight of sexual assaults is removed, since it seems that they are less numerous than they are. This has always happened; what is happening is that the fraternity between men and the silence of women have allowed this open secret to be perpetuated,” emphasizes the one who holds this story.
Today, we want to attribute sexual violence to migrants, but this violence is not new, it is in fact historical.
He argues that “this type of movement contributes to making it more difficult to designate a sector of the population to use it as a scapegoat and puts at the center what is important: sexual violence against women, committed by men, is structural and cultural. Unfortunately, there is no model of sex offender. They do not have any common characteristics of any kind, beyond the fact that they are men. If that were the case, our lives would be much easier.
We all know there are many, but I think we didn’t know there were so many of us. and so close.
He believes that telling these experiences can be restorative for victims. “We all know that there are many of us, but I think we didn’t know that there were so many of us. And so close. It gives you, in a way, a little peace for yourself. Society always tells you that your experience is the fault of bad luck, your environment, the friends you make, what you “attract”… It has never been socially accepted as a common reality of the life experience of a woman and me. I think that with these types of movements, we all have more visibility on the reality of being a woman. It’s not bad luck, it’s not your environment either, you don’t choose your friends badly, you don’t attract bad luck either; “Sexual violence against women is something structural and cultural and is part of the experience of life.”
Aggressors in positions of power
This woman who collects her account data points out that there is a lot of fear and that she has already Several victims wrote to share their testimony asking him to delete it due to threats.There are many testimonies that I have not put online at the request of the victims for fear of reprisals, both physical and professional. These people are not only public figures, but they are all in positions of power in relation to the victims, being able to influence them, limit them or even prevent them from working in certain industries in the Canary Islands. At the moment, there is still a lot of fear, but from here, I encourage everyone to take a step forward, and that once and for all, they are afraid,” he notes.
B. is one of the women who sent her testimony. She tells this newspaper that in 2011 she was trapped in the toilets of a place where anti-fascist events were taking place and where men linked to a football club were attending. She claims to have been harassed and sexist comments were made to her, but when she went to tell her partner at the time what had happened to her, he assured her that it was something common and “typical”. He explains that he tried to contact the club that included one of these groups (already dissolved) from which testimonies of sexist behavior come out, but that he has not received an official response, only that of a person who regrets these events that are attributed to former members. This newspaper has also tried to contact the group without receiving a response so far.
This woman demands a statement from this group in which she positions herself and condemns the reported events. “It would be a small reparation for women, because of course it is not fair and they have censored hundreds of publications on which you cannot comment.” “There are many women who are going through difficult times because of this silence that exists. Something so strong comes out of it and I have knocked on every door I have found to see if anyone would say something,” says B., who adds that “there is a code of men, a secret and a pact between gentlemen of ‘let’s go’. wait ‘for the downpour to pass’, he says.
The National Law on Gender-Based Violence of 2004 includes physical and psychological violence, including attacks on sexual freedom, threats, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty. In addition, the Macro-Investigation on Violence against Women of the Ministry of Equality already showed that eleven million women have suffered gender-based violence in Spain (53.7%), that is, physical aggression, psychological abuse, sexual aggression, harassment… The detailed report, for which more than 9,000 surveys were carried out throughout the country, addresses all types of violence that affect women and has placed special emphasis on sexual violence, which leaves alarming figures such as the fact that only 8% of victims report it.
The case of Giselle and the inspiration of Cristina Fallarás
The woman behind the account Up to Konejo says it is very important that Gisèle Pelicot says that “shame must change sides” and that she has decided to make the trial public. Consider that “This is a big step towards ending the social vendetta against the victim.” “Showing your face, making it known is extremely important to create this social debate. Say it, more on the networks, to your family, to your friends, get used to creating this conversation. Even if they don’t support you or don’t believe you. Even if they question you. “You have no reason to be ashamed,” he emphasizes.
“A woman who publicly shares her sexual assault only gains social skepticism and disbelief, and a public demand for evidence proving the assault, but… How do you prove she was unconscious? How do you prove a man gets his hands on you and doesn’t let you leave the store where you took the car? How do you prove rape if that person didn’t beat you?” he asks. And he adds that indeed “Giselle discovered it by chance. The woman had memory loss and they attributed it to early-stage Alzheimer’s. Without those videos, how could Giselle have proven these rapes if there had been no struggle and, therefore, physical evidence indicating some form of assault?”
Likewise, let us recall that the journalist Cristina Fallarás (@cfallaras) She is a pioneer in Spain in sharing women’s attacks on Instagram with her “tell it” movement. “Mine was ‘by accident’. From that woman who spontaneously decided to tell her attack and decided to ask me the question, until today, it is something that happened naturally and that I consider important enough to stop ‘the world’ on my page and give visibility to this problem,” he says.
He maintains that the local component is important in his story. “Proximity always makes you more empathetic and helps you understand that the aggressors are not “there” or “scattered” throughout the territory, but that the aggressors are many, of different types, they are in your same autonomous community, in your city, in your neighborhood and/or on your street. And what’s more, due to the number of cases in such a limited territory, it is very likely that you know one and don’t know it,” he concludes.
You can write to us at jennifer@canariasahora.com if you would like to expand your testimony or put us on the trail of specific cases.
