November 25th is the International Day for the Elimination of the Violence Against Women… and my personal story

It happened in France during WW2… I wrote about it in ‘Sisters At War’… and it’s still going on.

Sexual violence against women.

What I never talked about is that it happened to me.

Date rape. Kidnapping.

I wrote about the incident I experienced back in graduate school in a short story recently, but I haven’t posted it. I don’t know when I will. I’m still coming to grips with the raw pain writing the piece evoked in me. I’m amazed how many details came flooding back when my fingers hit the keyboard.

The lost wallet that wasn’t lost, the smell of tequila in the motorcar… me saying ‘no’ several times, but he didn’t stop.

I didn’t lose my head. I suffered through the physical humiliation and I waited…

Waited for the right time to make my escape.

And I took it.

It worked. I found help, called the police, they came, but unless I wanted to press charges… well, you know what happened next. It was back in another era when the phrase ‘date rape’ didn’t exist. I’d be opening myself up to a painful cross examination, everything in my past… you know the drill.

Did I really want to put myself… my family through this?

So I went on with my life.

Until now.

Writing ‘Sisters at War’ and I’m now writing the sequel ‘Sisters of the Resistance’ made me realize that it’s never too late to speak about what happened. It’s helped me. I hope by opening up, my story will help others.

Thank you for listening.

Jina

#InternationalDayfortheEliminationofViolenceAgainstWomen

Bold Book Club

November 25th is the International Day for the Elimination of the Violence Against Women

https://www.un.org/…/ending-violence-against-women-day

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Sisters At War: https://t.co/bYrynTvs80

The Beaufort Sisters are at war with the Nazis… and each other

‘A must read for anyone’

‘Hard hitting and heart breaking’

‘An absolutely gripping, powerful story’

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/sisters-at-war-2

Who are the Beaufort Sisters?

They’re beautiful

They’re smart

They’re dangerous

They’re at war with the Nazis… and each other.