From victim to survivor to hero
Rape survivor is now using her own personal story to make a difference for survivors of sexual abuse on a global scale.
Sexual violence is one of the worst epidemics of our time. It affects not only women but also men, children and marginalised communities.
Statistics reveal that one out of every four women is likely to be sexually assaulted during their lifetime, while one out of every eight women is likely to get cancer. This means that women are more likely to be sexually assaulted than they are to develop cancer.
This is according to South African-born Australian adventurer, survivor, social advocate and International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) Ambassador, Claire McFarlane.
On 18 July 2016, Claire began the biggest adventure of her life. She is currently running along 3 000 km of beach (where possible) across 184 countries in support of rape survivors around the world. She aims to do this within four years or less, and is now celebrating the first, successful year of this adventure.
This global campaign is called Footsteps to Inspire – a campaign of peaceful action to remove the taboo around rape, support the healing process and ultimately make lasting changes to society.
Claire chose to embark on this epic social adventure in response to her own personal story of survival. She was a self-funded student who worked part-time in a bar in Paris. On 18 July 1999, 19-year-old Claire left her workplace at about 3am to take a taxi home – perfectly normal behaviour for her at the time. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it to the taxi as she was intercepted by a man who brutally raped her and left her for dead.
Ten years later, her attacker was caught, through DNA testing. What followed was a long, arduous battle through the French justice system that only came to an end on 1 October 2015, with her attacker serving less than four years in prison. Claire’s ordeal lasted 16 years in total.
Claire chose to reveal her story to the public in 2014. In doing so, she came to realise that she could have a positive impact on the future. She is now using her own personal story to make a difference for survivors of sexual survivors on a global scale.
She is now using beach running, where possible, and adventure travel to tackle this difficult issue in a more positive, empowering way, and to show that it’s possible to survive and thrive after trauma.
To date, Claire has funded the trip herself, covering all her own travel expenses. Currently, she has enough funding to make it to the twentieth country on her list. All funds raised en route go towards the cost of the trip itself, and allow her to meet with non-profit organisations, reach survivors around the world and contribute to local programmes where possible.
As her journey kicked off in Johannesburg last year, Claire will return to South Africa each year at about this time, in celebration of a full year’s journey. She will then have a no less than 5km run with anyone who wants to support the cause, including recovering rape victims.
She recently celebrated the first year of her four-year journey when approximately 50 supporters ran with her at the Danielrust Game Farm in Sterkfontein.
“I’ve always dreamed about changing lives, and hopefully I’m doing just that. Giving rape survivors a voice gives me the strength to embark on this global journey,” she said.
If you would like to support this campaign or find out more, feel free to visit https://chuffed.org/project/footstepstoinspire.
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