But over the course of a year, the same thing happened to eight of her friends, who were all raped, harassed or sexually assaulted by people they knew but had no idea how to handle it or who to go to. Those who did report it were rarely taken seriously. "I kept thinking: was this normal in our society?" says Wongsawang. "Especially as our attackers would go on as normal, as if nothing wrong had happened."
Kodwa esikhathini esingangonyaka, into efanayo yenzeka kwabayisishiyagalambili kubangane bakhe, abadlwengulwa bonke, bahlukunyezwa noma bahlaselwa ngokocansi abantu ababebazi kodwa bengazi ukuthi babhekane kanjani nalolu daba noma baye kubani. Labo ababika kwakungavamile ukuthi banakwe. “Ngangilokhu ngicabanga: ngabe lokhu kwakuyinto ejwayelekile emphakathini wethu?” kusho u-Wongsawang. “Ikakhulukazi ngoba labo abasihlasela babeqhubeka nempilo njengokujwayelekile, sengathi kwakungekho okubi okwakwenzekile.”