She Lives With It. Every Single Day.

Recently I watched two deeply disturbing, yet important stories – Assi, a film that deals with a rape case and everything that follows: the courtrooms, the silence, the struggle to heal, the need for support… and Chiraiya, a show that brought to light something even more unsettling – marital rape.

One common thread binds them – RAPE. An act that doesn’t end in the moment, but lives on, carving scars that last a lifetime.

These stories force you to confront a question that has no easy answer – what is more horrifying? Being gangraped by strangers, or by someone you are expected to trust, someone as close as a husband?

Marital rape, in many ways, becomes an everyday prison. You wake up next to the same person who turns into a monster by night. There is no law to protect you, no system to hear you, no safe space to escape to. And worse – sometimes, not even your own family stands by you. As shown in the show, the parents chose silence over support, indifference over empathy. That silence screams the loudest.

And then there is gang rape – an incident that may last minutes, but its memory refuses to leave. It follows you into your sleep, into your thoughts, into every quiet moment. You don’t just remember it; you relive it. The shudder when someone touches you, the fear is real. The trust is gone.

Assi reminded us of a chilling reality – a rape happens every 20 minutes.

I don’t think I would ever want to watch these again. They were too disturbing, too heavy to sit through twice. Call it selfish, maybe. But perhaps it feels personal – too close, too real.

Because while we have the choice to look away, to switch off, to move on – what about the woman who lived through it?
Does she have that choice?
Can she ever truly look away when she closes her eyes?

Healing is not immediate. It takes time, sometimes years, sometimes a lifetime. It takes strength, support, unconditional love, someone who will just listen… and sadly, the world often fails to offer even that.

So the next time you see, hear, or sense something, don’t be a mute spectator. Speak. Stand. Support. Even in the smallest way possible.

Because sometimes, that one small act of support can mean everything to someone trying to survive.

And if you can make the world even slightly kinder, slightly safer – you’ve already done something right.