Instagram Apologizes for Deleting South Africa's Rape Victim Posts.
Well let me remind you if you still have no slight idea of whom am talking about. Amber the Activist, 27, is an humanitarian visiting South Africa. She was in the country to promote her ‘Stop Rape, Educate’ campaign. But six weeks ago, Amber was raped by a friend when he invited her into the shower with him.
Western Cape police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Andre Traut said a man was arrested on November 30. He was granted bail in the Cape Town Regional Court and police were investigating further.
On her instagram post this is what Amber said....
It was only a few minutes ago but sometimes these things happen so fast it's hard to remember all the details.... I've been sick for the past 2 days and today was my first day out. I went back to my old hostel to leave a note for a friend, Nick. There was another guy there, Shakir, who was desperately trying to get with me. I kissed him once but he seemed drunk so I told him it was bad timing, I had already met someone. Before heading out, I went upstairs to say hi to one more friend, Clyde from the states. Shakir followed me upstairs and said he was going to take a shower. He invited me to join. I said yes because the water at my current hostel is pretty cold and after 2 days of being sick, I just really wanted a hot shower. As soon as I got in the bathroom, he forced me to my knees. I said "stop!" but he just got more violent. He lifted me up and put his penis in my vagina. I asked him to stop, again, as I began to cry. When he shoved it in my ass, that's when I passed out. I woke up a few minutes later and saw him trying to creep out the door. When he saw that I was awake, he came back to finish me off in the shower. I have all those fucked up feelings that we get after rape...shame, disgust, suffering. I'm here, alone, and any DNA has been wiped away in the shower. The South African police will just roll their eyes when I walk in. Feeling sicker than ever now. Needless today, I'm going to disappear for a bit. Just need to enjoy the freaking sun and call my friends and family in the states. Love you guys. Thank you for always being there for me. All the more reason to continue @stoprapeeducate but not today. Today, I need rest. #StopRapeEducate
Amber is currently representing the organisation (Stop Rape, Educate) on a world tour. She decided to share her experience on Instagram so as to practice what she preaches.
"I decided to document what happened to me because it was my way of seeking justice. I didn’t know what was going to happen with the police. I didn’t trust that I would get justice. I had 20 000 followers on Instagram at that time and I knew that I had a community that would support me. I think the only reason they even followed up on my case was because the US embassy was involved. They had the rapist’s details, his phone number and full names but it took weeks for them to follow up. I am not satisfied at all with their investigation." Amber said on an instagram post.
Public policy for Instagram pulled down her posts because they don't follow the social media platforms Community Guidelines.
After Amber complained about her posts being pulled down, one of the team member that run public policy for Instagram responded to her " We recently learned that content of yours was accidentally removed from Instagram. I wanted to reach out directly to you and apologize, as your story is both courageous and important, and we would never want to prevent you from being able to tell it. We feel so badly to have in any way contributed to stress in the aftermath of horrific experience for you. If it would be helpful to speak by phone, I would be happy to do that - just let me know. If there is anything i can do to help or if you have questions, please never hesitate to reach out." This was however not received well by Amber.
Amber is also a part of the neo-feminist club who are growing their armpit hair in an effort to show how strong they are in defying social norms. All she's asking is "If your body hair could talk, what would it say?"
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