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“A woman born in South Africa has a greater chance of being raped than learning how to read.”
So begins Michelle Hattingh’s presentation for her Psychology honors thesis. For years, she has studied the perception of rape victims in her home city of Cape Town, one of the world’s capitals of gender-based violence. But on the night she receives her degree, Michelle and a friend are raped on the beach.
Despite the support from her loving middle-class family and many resources at her disposal, Michelle’s identity is eclipsed by the horrors of that night. By the taint she feels. By the fallout of friendships and jobs, and her harrowing treatment from police and doctors.
I’m The Girl Who Was Raped is Michelle’s reclamation of body, selfhood, and future. This urgent and myth-shattering debut memoir is the battle cry of a survivor—and an invitation to look beyond statistics to the women, daughters, friends, artists, and leaders who refuse to let abusers define them.
Many people think middle class women are magically immune to rape or that if they are raped their easy access to the resources they need will be everything they need to recover completely. A book that discusses the cross cutting nature of the pain all women must feel when a man rapes them can only be welcomed in a time when communities across South Africa struggle with high rape rates.” — Kathleen Dey of Rape Crisis
“Compelling, clear and beautiful writing on such a necessary topic. She shatters rape myths on every page.” — Jen Thorpe, gender activist and author of The Peculiars
“Michelle breaks down rape myths while simultaneously addressing the grave lack of assistance for rape victims in Cape Town – one of the world’s rape capital cities. A necessary read.” — Marisa Crous, News24
“Now and then you read a book that alters your life. It inspires you; it redefines you; and sometimes it reshapes your thinking in a way that changes the world around you. One such book for me was Michelle Hattingh’s I’m the Girl Who Was Raped.” — Anonymous Amazon Reviewer
“I timely book in a #MeToo world … easy to read and filled with a soft, comfortable intimacy. A brave book.” – Manjeet Birk