Belinda embodied this defiant spirit against all odds as she shared her journey from sexual assault to transformation and healing. In her uncompromising expression of her experience and journey, she stood high above for all to see and hear her traumatic story of sexual assault, its harrowing impact on her body, mind, and spirit, and a 30-year silence that imprisoned her life. Told with fearless courage, she drew the audience away from theories of gender-based violence, and marches by activists to the lived raw experience of survivors who relive their experiences every time these topics are discussed, and activities done in their name and often without their voices. She challenged gender activists to center the voices of survivors without which their activities are sites of trauma.
Her insightful perception is that other women share her experiences in different ways she presented questions for reflection, drawing the audience to engage from their experiences and creating a safe community of authentic dialogues and search for healing. Healing as she explained so clearly is a journey with a destination a time when the healing is achieved. Using the metaphor of a snake bite and extracting the poison, she urged us all to allow survivors to heal in their way and time. Her faith was central to her healing and continues to sustain her but the scars remain as a reminder but with no power to traumatize her
Her book which she published and is the source of her presentation is freely available. The title “Liberation in Irrelevant Spaces” The seminar reflected the defiant voice of rebellion by women -“Wathint’ abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo’(You Strike a woman, You Strike a