lifestyle

Kevin and his rapist have 3 mutual Friends on Facebook.

“No one comes running for boys who cry ‘rape’.”

When Kevin Kantor was raped two years ago, he was asked by police why he didn’t fight back. Kantor, 22, was shunned by officers who, in his opinion, disparaged his trauma.

Kantor’s rapist came up under the ‘People You May Know’ tab on Facebook.

They have 3 mutual Friends.

And it was this experience, that encouraged him to write a poem.

To use his words to ‘fight back’.

The piece is incredibly powerful. You can watch the video below. (Post continues after video). 

Because when Kantor’s rapist showed up on Facebook, it stunned him.

“It was an incredibly jarring experience,” he told The Independent.

“I didn’t like break down, I didn’t have a physical reaction, I just felt stunned. That was hard to process – just knowing that I was more connected to him in a way the entire time.

“It made it harder [to deal with], it created more of a person where there one wasn’t before and it made it even more difficult for my mind to reconcile everything.”

A powerful message: In pictures: Ordinary women send an extraordinary anti-rape message.

Kantor’s poem isn’t just a way for him to deal with his experience. It’s an opportunity for society to change the way we view male rape, which, he says, is the same as the idea that victims were ‘asking for it’.

“The culture that says men can’t be raped is the same one saying other survivors were asking for it,” he told Upworthy. 

“Don’t let other people deny the reality of your experiences and the strength you have for surviving them.”

What do you think about Kevin’s poem? 

Related Stories

Recommended

Top Comments

Matty 9 years ago

I read a Buzzfeed interview with Kevin where he said, I struggled to report it, because I felt the word "rape" didn't apply to me because he was a 20 year old man when it occurred....this guts me to the core for two reasons...firstly that the word rape should apply to ANYONE and second the realisation that the shame the occurs with rape appears to be universal irrespective of gender...if you were a woman you were asking for it and if you were a man you should have fought back...if makes me so sad that this attitude still exists..,


Laura Palmer 9 years ago

He's a brave man. I hope his voice makes a difference so that other men can feel safe to come forward when this happens to them and not have to worry about ridicule or victim blaming and shaming.