Wildflower.
I recently watched a movie titled "Wildflower" on Netflix. First off,shout-out to all Nollywood producers that go the extra mile to make extraordinary movies.
This movie is a perfect depiction of what it’s like to live in an unjust society like ours. It portrays what rape- victims have to go through. It portrays how the influential try to maneuver their ways because they have the capacity to.
Every scene in the movie struck me. From Rollys advice to mama Ada, to her telling Ada to avoid Johntana and many more insightful scenes. But, one that stuck with me was a rape victim who tried to come out as a witness and how she was firstly shunned by her husband. How he told her to let it go and forget about it. He was bothered about what people would say. Honestly, I did understand him. In a society like ours, rape- victims face stigmatisation. They are subjected to so many uncouth behaviours because they were raped. When a woman says she got raped, the first thing people say is 'where was she?' 'What was she wearing?' 'What was she looking for there?' Hardly would you find people say who raped her? What have they done to him? Things like this irk me. I get annoyed. These people have no control whatsoever about what the perpetrators of the crime did to them. Infact, we need to stop seeing victims as victims but survivors. They go through so much in silence. The memory of the incident never leaves their mind and most of the time, they have to be quiet about it. Why? Why should a person be quiet about something that occurred to them which took away their sanity? Why isn’t there enough jusice subjugated on rapists?
I once heard of a story sometimes back that a little girl was raped by an old man and her parents decided to let the matter go because it is shameful. This is what society has turned into. In a normal and just world no person who has been victimised has to be ashamed it should be the perpetrators of the crime that should be made to feel shame and disgrace but when we as a society encourage such persons how would they feel ashamed? As a society we have to do better! Infact, we need to do better! The Government isn’t the only problem we have in this country, we the people are also a major factor to the problem Nigeria is facing currently.
To every single rape- survivor, I want you to know you are a conqueror! You are not shameful! You are not a disgrace! You are a joy to look at, you are beautiful, you are seen and you are loved. Don’t be scared to share your story and do not be scared to take action and seek justice. And to every man or boy who has also been subjected to rape, I want you to know that in as much as society does not countenance such situations as important because they believe only women can be raped, I want you to know that you are also survivors. I want you to look in the mirror and give yourself praises, because you deserve it. I want you to know that you are perfectly made and the burden imposed on you is not yours to carry. You are seen, you are loved and you are appreciated. Thank you for choosing to remain on earth and continuing to fight.
This is to every warrior battling silently or being open and upfront about their battle. Thank you for being you and you are not what they say you are and you, will never be.