Interview #4

(Photo by Chris John)

Figure 84.   Ravaged

Ian:

What lead you to state, “Rape is an economic reality?”

Me:

It’s based on my experience of not being able to get a job for twelve years despite working steadily for the previous twenty five.

Ian:

What changed?

Me:

I’d been single for many years. So, when I spent time with one individual, most people assumed it was intimate. It occurred to me later this was an important factor, if not the overriding reason, I was hired.

Ian:

Why use the term ‘rape’?

Me:

When one has to be seen as sexually active to get a job, it means sex is used as a bargaining chip for economic survival. This is coercion.

(Photo by Denitsa Kireva)

Figure 85.   Purloin

Ian:

Was this individual the one?

Me:

No. And, I knew it at the time, so we were not intimate.

Ian:

What happened?

Me:

He appeared to be in similar circumstances and kept asking me to go with him hither and yon. I cooked dinner to repay the essentials he bought for me. Months later, I was hired by the same company to do the same job, on his days off.