Recover

'Let's get you sorted'

The next week ran by in a blur. Mum marched me into school on Monday and demanded action to be taken. The headmistress was very supportive. She phoned the Police as it was apparently her responsibility to as the allegation was so serious. She also said as a pupil of her school was being accused of such a crime, a special assembly would be given to the upper years on sexual consent and assault to try and prevent it from happening again but that I would remain anonymous however she'd like to use my story as an example.
She sat me in the Pastoral Care office and the Pastoral Care officer made me a hot chocolate and listened to me tell her everything. Ben was summoned to the head's office afterwards to give his side but suspended pending investigation.
I was suprised that nobody doubted or didn't believe me. Even at the Police Station the family liaison officer I spoke to was really understanding. Jamie came with me like he promised but had to sit outside while I spoke to her. I hated having to keep replaying it all and remembering. It was hard to speak without vomiting or crying and my whole body was shaking but eventually I got there.
Tessa was really helpful too and I felt sorry for her because her son might go to prison but she was determined to help me. Ben wouldn't admit what happened and was adamant we did it together but he kept dropping himself in it and gradually dug himself a deeper and deeper hole, accidentally changing his story and getting confused. The family liaison officer said that even if I had given consent it was still illegal because I was only fifteen and they had proof that we'd had sex so he was held in custody until his trial a few weeks later. Apparently, it would have been his fault anyway because he should have known not to expect that from me at my age.
He was found guilty as his story was full of holes and the bruise marks on my wrists were strong evidence that I was forced. He was sentenced to four years in prison and put on the sex offenders register. I couldn't believe it but everyone just kept saying it wasn't my fault.

A week after his conviction, Mrs Johnson, the headmistress, held an assembly like she promised. Year 11 and sixth form piled into the hall and sat down. Miss Johnson stood at the podium, signaled for everyone to be quiet and began. I sat among everyone else because she didn't want it to be suspicious that I didn't attend.

"Good morning everybody. Thank you for taking time out of your lessons to be here this morning. I have a very important assembly to deliver for you today. As you probably all know by now, a member of the sixth form is not currently be with us. To protect his identity, we are not using his name even though it is relatively clear who it is. An incident happened with him and another member of our school. Again, her name will not be used. The boy has been sentenced to four years in prison and has been placed on the sexual offenders register. He was found guilty of raping the 15 year old girl. The girl was his girlfriend, they had been together for a long time. One evening,  they were spending time together and he forced her to have sex with him even though she made it clear she didn't want to. It is important to talk about it so there can be no more rumours and because I think everyone deserves the truth. There were gasps and alot of murmers and whispering. I fidgeted awkwardly, trying to hide my embarrassment, praying no one would recognise I was the girl.
"Settle down please. The reason I am telling you this is it has an important message to give. Consent concerning any sexual activity is vital and rape is not only physical, it can be verbal too. Blackmail or threats can make a person feel they have to have sex and don't have a choice. At your age I am sure the majority are thinking about or have had sexual intercourse and with the shocking recent event, I wanted to educate you and ensure you have all the information you need to make the right choices and keep safe. I have asked in a local family liaison officer that specializes in sexual assualts to talk to you about the issue in general and answer any questions you may have. Please listen respectively and really think about the message she's giving you. I ask you all to take this seriously and be sensitive but don't be shy, Angela..." She signalled to a pretty woman sitting on a chair behind her, "...will be happy to answer any questions you may have as best she can. Over to you!" Angela stood up and smiled at Mrs Johnson.

"Good morning. Thank you for having me. So, I'm going to start with the incident that happened a couple of months ago concerning two pupils from this school. The pupils involved had been happily together for more than a year. The boy hadn't so far expected anything sexual from the girl. On the night it happened they were both happy and content and there was no tension between them. Nothing to give warning. They started kissing and the boy progressed and attempted to undress the girl. She pulled away and made clear in body language and speech that she was neither happy nor ready for sexual intercourse and would like for him to stop. She attempted to then walk away but was grabbed. She was unable to break free from his grasp and froze when the rape took place. Unfortunately, she could have done nothing to prevent him from raping her or stop it but had both he and she been more aware of what rape is, how it happens and how it affects people, it might have not happened at all. Consent must be recognised by both the boy and girl before they have intercourse. Boys can be sexually assaulted also and it does happen although not as often. However it means that both genders should be aware of each others consent to proceed. If a person shows or says they are unsure or don't want to have sex, they shouldn't be persuaded, bribed or threatened, especially not forced. Instead of being open about it and feeling able to tell someone, the girl kept it to herself and couldn't talk about it. This is very common among young victims and so extra support needs to be available as horrifically, rape happens nation-wide and many children, teens and young adults have to carry on living their lives without telling anyone or receiving any support.  It is an incredibly embarrassing thing and many people blame themselves and think it is their fault. If this assembly had been given a few months ago, things may have been different. I want to encourage all of you to speak out and not be afraid to talk about it, this way we can work on making rape a topic more easily discussed. We cannot change what has happened but we can be there for the victim and try to stop it from happening again by making you aware. Rape is crime. And if a person over 16 has sexual intercourse with someone under the age of 16, they can also be charged with rape even if the under age person gave consent. Legally,  the under age is a child and cannot make up their mind on such a matter so it is the responsibility of the over age to make sure they do not have sexual intercourse with them even if the under age wants to.  It is still rape if the over age wasn't aware of the age of the child because it is their responsibility to know, check or make sure. These things are very important to know to keep you safe from being a victim or from accidentally committing the crime."
Mrs Johnson cut in, "Our school is upgrading its pastoral care system so that should another incident like this happen again, we have trained members of staff and facilities to help the victims get past what happened. We are going to make a committee that will go to other schools and health centres in our area and educate them like we have educated you and also encourage them to make a stand against rape- this will hopefully prevent it happening or at least make it much less likely"
The family liaison officer continued, "We want you to know how damaging something like this could be. Some people can't cope with what happened and take their own lives, if protection wasn't used, which it often isn't, female victims can become pregnant and then have the extremely difficult decision of whether to keep the baby. It is an incredibly hard, emotional, destroying journey which can affect their school work or job, relationships they may have in the future and overall mood and hapiness in life. It makes people self conscious and more wary of things than they might have been had it not happened. It destroys people and unfortunately it is a subject that people don't want to know or talk about. We are encouraging you now to speak up and talk about it. Ask anything you would like to know and I will try to know or find the answer. Don't be shy or embarrassed because I can guarantee that most people will have wanted to know but been too scared to ask themselves."

Quite a few hands went up and gradually more and more deeper questions were asked. I had to leave half way with the excuse of needing the loo. I couldn't help crying. I hammered my fists on the wall, angry that I was crying when I had got what I wanted.  Ben had gone to prison, everyone was being kind and lovely but, I wasn't magically going to be cured over night.
Suddenly the door swung open and Tiffany was standing opposite. She took a step toward me and I fell into her arms, sobbing into her shoulder. I immediately knew that she knew.
"I'm so sorry. I should have known. Me and Georgia really didn't help. Telling Ella and the girls, and Jamie. You must seriously hate us now." Her voice sounded as if she might cry too.
"You weren't to know. You helped by telling Jamie because he guessed what happened from it. I really don't hate you."
"Good. I can't believe Ben's in prison, or that he could do that to you. It must have been awful."
"It was, I don't know what to do now. I've got everything I need but I still feel as I did the day it happened."
"It will take time. But you'll have me and Georgia right by your side now."
She wiped away my tears and handed me her make up bag.
"Come on, let's get you sorted."