What to Do After #Rape in Nigeria by Morenike Fajemisin (@Pharmacistreny)

Rape is one form of sexual assault and a terrible act that has defied understanding of the reasons of the rapist. It has also defied any of the ‘tips’ people give for helping future victims prevent it. Rape is when a person(s) has sex with an unwilling person. Sex should always be consensual, that is, it must happen between willing parties. Any sex with a person who struggles to escape you or lies there begging you to stop is Rape. Because most rape victims are women, I’d like to focus this article where the shoe pinches most. In most developed countries, there are (numerous) easily accessible Sexual Assault Referral Centers you can easily locate and run to for help but this is not the case in Nigeria. I hope to at least guide you through 3 steps that can help you avoid some physical scars so you can move on and be a survivor.

I am yet to hear if a rapist who used a condom and while there are just as many emotional and psychological scars as there are physical scars after rape, here are three DIY steps after rape.

DIY STEP 1: PREVENT PREGNANCY:

The last thing you want to happen is to get pregnant for your rapist. I know you want to hide yourself and cry, but this is not a time to delay. Within 12 hours, make sure you buy an emergency contraceptive. This is a medicine that helps you prevent pregnancy after sex. In Nigeria, just look out for brands like Postpill in any pharmacy near you. Many people don’t know that it’s not immediately you have sex, that you could get pregnant and even the fastest sperm will have to wait for your egg to be available. Therefore using an emergency contraceptive will save you from having a baby that looks like ‘his daddy’.

DIY STEP 2: PREVENT HIV:

Another DIY move is to prevent HIV. This is especially important if you were raped by more than one person. Many STDs do not show symptoms and HIV especially is quite the silent killer, so another brave action you need to do is to visit a General Hospital and ask for their ARV Unit. Tell them you want PEP medicine. PEP means post Exposure Prophylaxis and it is a medicine taken to prevent HIV after a high risk exposure. Many health workers in HIV units are very familiar with PEP, and know when to seek it, but how many rape victims have ever heard of it? This medicine is given for FREE and available at almost every general hospital, all you have to do is ASK.

DIY STEP 3: TREAT STDS

About two weeks after your horrible experience, you should get tested. The easiest way to do this is a High Vaginal Swab; this is a microbial check of your vaginal discharge. You can take the result of this test to any pharmacy and get some medicine if needed. If you can, you can also do STI laboratory tests and this will help put concerns at rest.

This article is not perfect, and does not address the need for rape victims to seek justice, either in court or in kind. For the emotional scars of rape, first thing you need to do is talk to someone, someone who loves you and can share their strength with you. Always test them by asking them hypothetically what they think about rape and the women who are affected. This will give you an idea what their stand is before you open up to them. If you can afford it, please seek professional counselors. Only YOU can decide whether to report your rape experience to the police and I understand some Nigerian police are trained to handle such cases. No matter what you decide to do legally, you should try to erase the physical scars so you can progress on your journey to healing after rape.

This article was written by @Pharamacistreny. To read more of her articles, please visit http://www.pharmacistreny.com/. 

This article does not represent Stand to End Rape Initiative's views.