RAPISTS ARE NOT HUMAN BEINGS — Activist urges females to speak up about sexual assault

As the '#MeToo' Movement gains support in the United States, women's rights activist Dr Glenda Simms is urging females to speak up about rape.

"We need to teach these generation of young men how to be persons that their rapists or molester relatives were not. We need to teach them to be human beings because I don't really consider a rapists as a 'human being'. We have to teach them to respect women and to accept that no means no," said Simms.

The '#MeToo' Movement is an international campaign against sexual harassment and assault.

Simms comments follow two stories about rape that were published in THE WEEKEND STAR yesterday where both females spoke about the horrifying experience of being sexually assaulted. One of the women was also impregnated by one of her rapists.

"Too many people are going through these experiences, and for different reasons, they have to keep it to themselves. I am sure that a lot of mental health issues are affecting women who have been raped," she said.

Simms said that if these issues are not addressed properly, there will continue to be a rise in mental illness among females in the future.

"Many of us are attached to churches, and we believe that we should not speak on these things. But until we put these ordeals out on the table, we are going to see growing cases of mental issues among women and girls. We might have to open more mental health institutions," she said.

POOR WOMAN

In yesterday's article, Stacy Black* stated that she wants to have an abortion because she was impregnated by one of her rapists. However, she said that her request was rejected by more than one doctor who told her that the procedure is illegal in Jamaica.

"She must have been a poor woman why she can't get it done because if she was an upper class woman she could fly over to Toronto or Miami or do whatever she wants to do. So, we have to look at class as it relates to the decisions we are going to make about ourselves," Simms said.

She, however, advised Black to speak with her inner self and weigh her options and make the best decision possible. She also implores the females who have been raped to speak out. She also insisted that the necessary offices put strategies in place to diminish the fears of rape victims.

"Women need to take a stance to say enough is enough. They need to stop protecting the men who raped them. On another note, these females are also fearful of being killed, so we will have to put things in place so they can overcome this fear," she said.