One of the leads of 2010 sci-fi film “Atlantis Down” has admitted to having been a victim of rape twice, and encouraged fellow victims to speak out to stop the stigma and seek help for recovery.
Filipina Hollywood actress Mae Flores, 39, was 18 when she first experienced sexual assault.
She was aboard a cruise ship then, when a stranger attacked her, she shared in an interview with ABS CBN.
“It was [a] very swift, quick push. I remember landing, my face landed up, my hand held the door, part of my body was still out and I remember, my legs getting pushed in. That’s all I remember,” she said in the interview, adding that, “I couldn’t move. I didn’t know what to do.”
In denial and embarrassed about the incident, she used her art: acting and dancing to move on.
Then, 18 years after the first incident, as she was walking down the streets of Chicago, it happened again.
“I teach my kids, when it (assault) happens to you, this is what you do, [but] nothing will prepare you,” Flores shared in the ABS CBN interview.
From January to October last year, the Philippine National Police’s Women’s Desk recorded about 7,037 rape cases nationwide. Latest data cited by the Center for Women’s Resources show that one person is raped every hour in the Philippines.
“Rape is one of the most prevalent forms of violence against women in the Philippines… Due to cultural and social stigmatization associated with rape, many women victims prefer to maintain their silence and not report their ordeal to the authorities,” according to the Philippine Commission on Women.
Like many women in her position, Flores hit rock bottom. “I always blame myself. I had not been in healthy relationships. I didn’t believe in love anymore or being protected by anybody,” she told ABS CBN.
However, by speaking out, becoming an activist, and delivering a speech at the United Nations and a TED talk, she recovered.
“It’s like normalizing an abnormal behavior. If you normalize rape as a danger, as something to be embarrassed about, you’re gonna keep hiding it. If I tell a million people my story today, hopefully they’ll say, I don’t have to hide it,” Flores told ABS CBN.
Photo credit: facebook.com/rmaeflores
Source: ABS CBN, Center for Women’s Resources, Philippine Commission on Women
