Diary of a Victim Turning Survivor
Onjaniaina RASAMIMANANA is a 2019 Alumna of the Mandela Washington Fellowship Civic Engagement Institute at the Presidential Precinct.
March 19th 2019 – Antananarivo, Madagascar
At 13:17 I was sitting in my room, thinking about this crazy idea that I had to leave my work within the United Nations in order to chase my dreams: building my own legal counselling company and building a shelter for the Gender Based Violence victims in Madagascar. I told myself that maybe it’s the most stupid idea of my life. Suddenly, the phone rang taking me out from my deep thoughts. One minute later, tears of joy were running down my face as I was reading “Congratulations for being selected as one of the 2019 Mandela Washington Fellows!” I will never forget this afternoon, as this very moment changed my life.
July 14th 2019 – Virginia, United States of America
I had been in the U.S. for almost a month with my Presidential Precinct family. I was sitting in a garden with the most inspiring people I’ve ever met. People were playing around, 2 adorable children were singing “baby shark doo doo doo doo…” and I’m there thinking how can I be this lucky, this happy despite the heavy situations I had been through in the past.
Six days earlier I met the founders of the Sexual Assault Resource Agency (SARA) and I knew that this crazy idea of building a shelter to host the survivors of GBV was not that crazy anymore. I learned that crazy ideas can become a wonderful reality as long as some people were believing in me, and the Presidential Precinct was believing in me to make it happen. As my friends and mentors were eating, laughing, and celebrating, I looked at them smiling. They didn’t know but they changed me from a sexual and physical violence victim into survivor by using capacity building and by showing me how to be a real leader.
September 9th 2019 – Moramanga, Madagascar
We were invited to lead a workshop for teenagers in a small Malagasy town called Moramanga. All of a sudden here I am standing in front of the young future leaders of my country and talking about design thinking – about the way they can flourish in a relentless world and how they change that world step by step if they believe in their craziest goals.
We were invited to lead a workshop for teenagers in a small Malagasy town called Moramanga. All of a sudden here I am standing in front of the young future leaders of my country and talking about design thinking – about the way they can flourish in a relentless world and how they change that world step by step if they believe in their craziest goals.
This workshop was the beginning of my adventure as a speaker in area high schools and universities to talk about human rights, gender equality, and my experience at the Presidential Precinct. I needed to share, to shout about what I found and how it was transformative for me.
October 26th 2019 – Antananarivo, Madagascar
Remember the shelter idea for GBV survivors? This day was the official day of inauguration – we found the perfect safe place to rent. This was the very first shelter exclusively dedicated to GBV survivors to open in my hometown. NGO REST achieved its first huge goal and our team was already prepared to hustle towards next steps.
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Now as we’ve turned the corner into a new year, I’ve also been able to deploy my legal background to leverage our country towards gender equality. I have recently drafted the first version of the National Law for Gender Equality in Madagascar as part of the “Focus Development Association”. There still a long way to go before this law’s adoption, but our team has certainly opened the gates. It is an honor for me to be a part of the High Council of Democracy and State of Law in Madagascar where we are helping our fellow Malagasy towards equal rights for all.
On International Women’s Day, one of the biggest challenges we have to face is the lack of empathy and solidarity when it comes to reporting violence. Let’s look around, victims of violence are everywhere: in our neighborhood, family, at work or at school. In Madagascar we say “Izay mitambatra vato, izay misaraka fasika”, which means “Solidarity is a rock, individuality is a like sand.” To win this fight, we must create a rock to break all victims’ chains. My hope is that International Women’s Day serves as a reminder to us all: please don’t stay silent. You have the potential to save a life.
I don’t know what’s the future holds for me, but I’m not afraid. I’m ready to face the good and the bad things ahead within the fight for justice and equality because that’s what leaders do, because that’s was the Presidential Precinct taught us, and because I’m not a victim anymore. I’m a survivor.
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This article is part of a series of alumnae spotlights in celebration of International Women’s Day in 2020. To read additional spotlights, visit https://presidentialprecinct.org/IWD/
