by Nikki McWatters
At the age of sixteen I was almost raped and murdered. It was the Gold Coast. 1982. After sneaking out of my bedroom window I walked the three kilometres into Surfers Paradise, along darkened streets and the glittering highway to the rock and roll venue, Bombay Rock. It was late, maybe eleven o’clock. I was trying to work my way backstage to see ‘Australian Crawl’ play live. In my desperation to get inside I accepted an offer by a bearded man of about thirty who told me he knew a way inside. He and I clambered up over a concrete wall and crawled through an opening into an unfinished level of the building, a dimly lit concrete bunker.
As I followed him further into the building and came to a staircase with heavy doors at the bottom he turned and grabbed me roughly, breaking my watch and pushing me to the floor. I struggled and got out from under him and ran to the doors but they were locked. A rock band was playing on the other side and the sounds were deafening. I yelled but in a concrete bunker above a rock concert, no-one can hear you scream. I was cornered. He dragged me back up the stair as I pleaded and begged for him to stop and he began to assault me.
This was not long after the infamous hitchhiker murders in the same town. To say I was stupid to get myself into this position is an understatement. But my primal need to survive kicked in and despite my youth, in those seconds I grabbed for a defensive strategy. I could not fight him. He would win. I would be raped. I had seen him clearly. I was sixteen. No one knew I was not in my bed at home. No one would enter that part of the building for months. I believed he would kill me. All I had was my desperation to survive.
Top Comments
This is so stange to say this but I have just this instant realised that I may have been raped whilst losing my virginity (I am now 40).
I am not sure if this constitutes rape but at the age of 16 at a party, I was a little drunk and a 15 year old family friend took me for a walk outside. We proceeded to have sex, consensually, but the pain was so bad that I said to him "please stop"... He replied..,"just wait until I'm finished".
I always knew it's was an absolutely awful way to lose my virginity but i suppose it was consensual and he was just an immature little prick (I have never forgiven him, and always avoided him after that)
My first time was very much the same. I said stop and he didn't
This makes me really sad and angry. I'm so glad youre all right, Nikki, but it's such a shame these men's crimes went unreported. I hate to think of them thinking they got away with it and maybe continuing to hurt other women... I'm not blaming you for your decision not to report - I can't even imagine what it must have been like for you. But it just makes me so angry that they receive no justice. . .