National Rape Awareness Week, which started on Monday, has the slogan "Break the Silence". Hariata Riwhi-Te Pahi talks with Advocate writer Lindy Laird about how that silence shaped her life. Both woman are volunteers with the Whangarei Rape Crisis collective.
VEIL OF TEARS Behind Hariata Riwhi-Te Pahi's veil of tears sits the beautiful young woman she once was. For years Hariata blamed herself for the brutal rape that sent her careening into a spiral of self-hatred, self-abuse and danger. She choked in its silent grip for 35 years until she found the strength to name it - five years ago, when she walked into the Whangarei Rape Crisis centre and asked for help.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=11250330
VEIL OF TEARS Behind Hariata Riwhi-Te Pahi's veil of tears sits the beautiful young woman she once was. For years Hariata blamed herself for the brutal rape that sent her careening into a spiral of self-hatred, self-abuse and danger. She choked in its silent grip for 35 years until she found the strength to name it - five years ago, when she walked into the Whangarei Rape Crisis centre and asked for help.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=11250330
