#I’m_with_you

After a year and half of unsettlement and lockdown, I get a call inviting me to a police interrogation. An interrogation? No one has spoken to me during this time. How can I look the officer in the eyes? What if they think I’m lying? As I put on my shoes, thoughts race through my head. What I will say there? As I try to remember all the details that I worked so hard to forget, my legs feel like they’ve turned into cement. My life turned upside-down six years ago. I live in an abyss of despair, guilt, and failure. Everyone is out there living their lives, it’s only me who’s broken. I feel like it would have been better if I just stopped existing. That thought has become almost comforting. I can’t hold down a job. I don’t have friends. And now, I get to see him moving on with his life, while I’m stuck living with what happened. I pick up the phone and dial 1202. I remember a nice girl answered at this number a few years ago. I told her about my pain, the loneliness that became my greatest enemy. And she was there, extending her hand to me over the phone. I don’t know if she is still there. I don’t even remember her name. I hear the phone dialing. I can hear my heart beating in my ears, I feel my stomach clenching. “Hello?” I hear on the other side, a soft woman’s voice. “Can you hear me?” And I want to answer. I really do. But my voice doesn’t cooperate. She doesn’t hang up. In a kind voice, she says “I’m here, with you. Let’s be silent together”. One in three women, and one in five men, are sexual assault survivors. The Haifa Rape Crisis Center is giving a personal, sensitive and humane response to anyone who needs it. In 2021 the hotlines answered 6,400 calls. Survivors are facing the unknown, fearing the worst, and sometimes the worst happens. Our volunteers are there with them the whole way, every hour, any place, for anyone that needs it. We need you, to continue and expand our work. Anywhere. Anytime. All the time. For everyone. Help us stay the strong hand, listening ear and understanding heart helping over the phone. Your donation is telling every survivor, “You are not alone”. #I’m_with_you in the loneliness, the pain, the bravery and the strength. Women’s hotline: 1202 | Men’s hotline: 1203| 052-83612020 on WhatsApp