I am the statistic that I read about. I am the thing I always feared most. I am rape.

That morning, Michelle had presented her psychology thesis on rape. It began: ‘A woman born in South Africa has a greater chance of being raped than learning how to read …’ That evening, celebrating her degree, she and a friend go to the beach, where they are robbed, assaulted and raped.

Despite the support and resources of her successful middle-class family at her disposal, Michelle has to fight to regain her life, losing friendships, jobs and her identity along the way. She realises she’ll never be the same again.

This story is one shared by women throughout the world — of living through a nightmare and trying to hold onto sanity.

This is the story of the girl who was raped.

Like a helpless cow, caught in barbed wire, I struggle for life and air but I’m defeated. I am blind with pain and I’m no longer me. Tears, tears, so many tears.