'I Didn't Report My Rape Because I Was 7. I Could Be Murdered for This, but I Can't Stay Silent'
When she wrote poems against the occupation, she paid with her freedom. Now that Palestinian-Israeli Dareen Tatour has chosen to speak out about the rapes she was subjected to as a child, she fears she could pay with her life
Like all inmates, Dareen Tatour had to undergo a body search every time she entered the prison gate. First she would hold out her arms while the female warders, who worked on a rotating basis, swept a metal detector over her, and then she had to disrobe in front of them. The procedure was unbearable for her. Each time, the forced contact released a memory locked deep inside about what she had endured in her childhood. Once, when the memory left her distraught, she told the warder about her experience as a girl and asked her if she could skip the check, swearing to the woman that she was not carrying anything forbidden. The warder hesitated for a moment, then said, “All right, then just raise your blouse and lower your pants.” Of course, even that prompted the childhood memory to burst forth painfully.