Raped by her father as a child, now she helps other incest victims speak up
- Karina Calver was five when her father first raped her, with the abuse continuing until her early twenties
- After breaking her silence, she embarked on a journey of self-healing and is now vocal on the issue of incest rape – especially in the Indian community
Karina Calver was five years old when her father raped her for the first time at their family home in Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui neighbourhood. Brainwashed by his narrative that this was an education, she suffered the harrowing ordeal multiple times until her early twenties.
At the age of 17, a conversation with a concerned high school teacher confirmed Calver’s suspicion that she was a victim of child sexual abuse.
“I still didn’t understand the extent of the abuse. I didn’t understand that this was rape, because rape would mean I wasn’t a virgin. He was always telling me that good Indian girls remain virgins till they marry – so I was certain and proud that I was one. I couldn’t connect the dots,” says Calver, now 43.
“At the time, the mind freezes to comprehend what’s going on. We allow ourselves to just live through it in order to survive. Also, I was scared that if I turned him away I’d be forced to leave home and I’d have nowhere to go. I didn’t have the necessary support in place to speak up.”
Calver’s sentiments are echoed by thousands of female rape survivors.
