Running against the silence
Claire McFarlane: Using adventure and sport to talk about rape
Claire McFarlane has taken on a very tall order for the next three years. Over that duration she will move to a new country every seven days, covering 184 countries and 3000 kilometres of beach. Claire, 37, has resolved to run 16 km of beach in each of these countries in support of survivors of rape. In Sri Lanka earlier this month, she spoke to us about her campaign Project BRA and what she would like every survivor of sexual violence to know.
As a survivor of rape herself, the cause is intensely personal for Claire. She was an arts student at university when she was brutally raped and left for dead on the streets of Paris in 1999. Having survived and reported the attack in France Claire returned to her home in Australia and proceeded to- in her own words- “shut all of it out” for ten years. In 2009 the French police contacted her; they had a DNA match, and she was asked to return to identify her rapist just two weeks before the statute of limitations on the crime would have expired. What followed was a long and arduous process of trying to bring justice to the perpetrator and the impact his crime had left on her life; it came to an end last year but for Claire, the process left a lasting emotional impact. “In Australia we have a better legal system,” she notes. “But the French system was entirely different. The victim is the one who has to relive their experience all over again many times and that’s incredibly traumatic when you want to put everything behind you and move on. I wanted to know what it was like around the world.”
She decided to take a break from a career as an economist and make a leap of faith. Claire is throwing all of her life’s savings behind this project, one that she hopes will help her take her message of solidarity and hope around the world to men and women who have survived sexual violence. “I’m choosing to use a different medium to talk about rape, and that is adventure and sport,” she says. “Sport is very empowering and has been an important part of healing for me, personally.”
Claire plans to run 3000 kilometres of beach across 184 countries; Sri Lanka is the eighth since she began this journey on July 18. In each country, Claire plans to spend at least a week to generate awareness about her run, raise funds to establish healing centres in certain countries, and more importantly, meet with local organisations working in this area to gain a better understanding of the situation. She estimates that Project BRA will take three years to complete.
In Sri Lanka Claire began her run bright and early at 5.30 a.m. on Saturday, November 5 from Mount Lavinia Beach. Despite the heavy downpour, she was joined by several runners from Colombo City for the 16 km run. “We laughed, we shared stories, we avoided stray dogs, dodged the rubbish and shared two hours of solidarity in support of survivors of sexual violence in Sri Lanka and around the world,” she shared over a post-run email interview, en route to her next destination, India. “The idea is for the run to become an annual event and that next year more people can join in to raise awareness.”
She spent the rest of her stay in meetings with organisations in both Colombo and Kandy, attempting to gain a better understanding of the culture surrounding sexual violence in Sri Lanka. “From my time and meetings in Sri Lanka I have learnt that rape is often seen as the woman’s fault and that the system (police, medical and legal) will often blame her,” she notes. “The big gap in Sri Lanka is education and awareness and positive role models in leadership positions. The laws are there to support survivors, however they are not being implemented in a safe way by the relevant services. Survivors are still being victimised and this needs to change. If a survivor feels safe, they are more likely to break their silence and stay in the system for a legal outcome.”
“Rape has nothing to do with sex – it is about power, control and disrespect. It rips away who we are and leaves us feeling powerless. When someone is intent on sexually violating a woman, a man or a child it has absolutely nothing to do with what the victim is wearing, where they are walking or what time of day it is. Nobody is asking for rape. A sexual offender does not care about any of these factors – they will violate you regardless. There is absolutely no shame or blame when it comes to rape. We really need to start asking offenders the hard questions. Why did they choose to break a basic human code of trust and violate another person in such a way?”
Her message to survivors in Sri Lanka? Break your silence and begin the journey of healing. “There are help lines and organisations out there to help you. Do what is best for you. You can ask to remain anonymous. Filing a complaint is not a requirement of breaking your silence. If you don’t feel safe going through the court system, you don’t have to. At least seek medical support and counselling to help you not only survive, but thrive. There is life after rape. It is not an easy journey but there are people who want to help you.”
| You are not alone There are many organizations in Sri Lanka that can help: visit http://www.actnowsrilanka.org/templates/atomic/map.php for a full map Police Children and Women’s Desk: Women in Need 0114718585 Human Rights Office Kandy: 0812 424511 Grassrooted: 0114282550 |
For more on Claire’s journey and on how you can contribute, visit http://www.projectbra.org/