𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐎𝐟 𝐒𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐕𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐬

…𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒖𝒎𝒂, 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒎𝒂, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕

By Lhendup Wangmo

Survivors of rape and psychological abuse continue to endure invisible wounds long after their physical pain subsides. Many live with recurring trauma, depression, and fear, often battling the silence of society that chooses to judge rather than support. While legal systems move forward, emotional healing remains distant for many, as the stigma surrounding sexual violence and mental health continues to silence survivors who desperately need understanding and care.

Of many, one of the survivors of rape and psychological abuse, Yeshey Tshogyel, a 36-year-old woman, lived with severe mental trauma for eight years. She claimed that she still struggles with anxiety disorder, depression, and constant migraines. “I tried to take my life multiple times,” she said.
“I may be out of the worst loop now, but I still fight anxiety, depression and migraines at times,” Yeshey added.
Like many other victims, Yeshey Tshogyel was also scared to step up for herself and speak about the abuses she was enduring. She recalled that one time she tried to seek help from a woman working in a renowned institution, but it backfired. She said, “I was wrong to assume that a woman will understand another woman going through a difficult time, but instead of helping me, she blamed me rather the predator.”

That incident heightened her anxiety, pushing Yeshey Tshogyel to live with shame and fear in silence. She said the fear of society putting blame on her family sealed her lips. “I couldn’t even share it to my mother meanwhile it is scary to imagine our society looking down on us,” she said.
She added, “I was sure that everything will be blamed on me, if I stood up for myself.”

The survivor urges society to change its perspective and stand with survivors instead of judging them. She feels that it is timely for society to break stereotypes and stigma. “Don’t always judge our girls for getting pregnant. Without men sexually assaulting us, we will not conceive miraculously,” said Yeshey Tshogyel.
“We should rather support the survivors on morale ground instead of blaming them. How difficult is it for our society to listen and help us heal?” she asked.

Yeshey Tshogyel emphasized the importance of mental health support. She said trauma is not something that goes away overnight. It affects the mind, body, and soul. Survivors need real support, safe spaces, and trained professionals who can help them recover, not judgment or shame. “Society must understand that healing takes time, and empathy can make a difference in a survivor’s life,” she added.

Since she is settled in one of the remote pockets of the country, she claimed that she did not know about support services like RENEW (Respect, Educate, Nurture and Empower Women) and other victim protection agencies when she was being abused as a young girl in her early teens.

Behind closed doors and far from public view, a silent mental health crisis unfolds as survivors of rape and psychological abuse grapple with deep emotional wounds that often persist long after the physical scars fade. While legal procedures move forward, many victims are left alone to cope with trauma, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress without adequate support.

Mental health remains one of the most overlooked aspects of gender-based violence. Limited counseling services, cultural stigma, and fear of being judged keep many survivors from seeking help. The pain is compounded by isolation, lack of awareness, and minimal outreach, leaving survivors to face their struggles without timely intervention.
Experts, non-governmental organizations, and counselors emphasize that mental health support must be fully integrated into gender-based violence response mechanisms. Safe spaces, trained counselors, and survivor-centered care are urgently needed to ensure that victims can heal with dignity. Yet, with services largely concentrated in urban centers and cultural silence persisting, many survivors remain invisible in the national conversation.

“The psychological well-being of survivors of sexual violence and psychological abuse must be addressed with the same urgency as legal and protection mechanisms,” the PEMA Secretariat official said. “Survivors often experience long-term trauma such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress, which can severely affect their ability to heal and reintegrate into society.”

The official further added, “Ensuring their well-being requires timely access to mental health care, trauma-informed support, and non-judgmental environments where they feel safe and believed. We are working to strengthen the integration of mental health and psychosocial support into standard operating procedures, train frontline workers to provide psychological first aid, and make services accessible even in remote areas through the PEMA Helpline 1098 and outreach programmes. We continue to advocate for greater sensitivity and coordinated action among service providers, law enforcement and the justice sector so survivors are treated with respect, confidentiality and care at every stage of their recovery journey.”

This exposes a growing public health and human rights concern, one that demands urgent attention not only from authorities but from society at large, particularly where survivors remain most vulnerable.
Another young survivor, who requested anonymity, tried hiding her pain but her village, a close-knit society, knew and spread a twisted version of the news of her being forced into an intimate act by one of the well-known men, retold as a consensual act. This not only tainted her image but deeply affected her personality as she isolated herself from her family and withdrew from her community.

She said, “After listening to his twisted narratives, villager treated me differently, almost with disgust.”
She said that the community looked at her with suspicion and whispered behind her back. “It wasn’t just me they blamed but my family too. My family is also blaming me for the shame I brought upon them.”
Slowly, the community stopped her family from participating in community activities. She said, “The community ignoring my family left us feeling like we were invisible in the place we had always called home.”

She described the long-lasting mental health impact of both the trauma and societal rejection. “The assault left me terrified and depressed, but the way society responded made it so much worse. I couldn’t sleep, I was constantly anxious, and I felt like I had no safe place. Seeing my family being judged and excluded added another layer of pain,” explained the survivor.
The entire community punished her family instead of supporting them, in her words.

The survivor highlighted how isolation prevented her from seeking help. “There was no one to turn to in my village, and traveling to a center in town was difficult. I was too scared to reach out because I feared being blamed again. People in rural areas judge harshly and sometimes gossip spreads faster than help can reach you.”

She called for societal change and awareness. She said society needs to understand that survivors are not at fault and blaming them only deepens the trauma. It is not just the survivor who suffers but the family too. “Communities should stand with us, not exclude us. We need understanding, safe spaces, and mental health support to heal,” she added.

The Penal Code of Bhutan defines a person to be guilty of sexual harassment under Section 205 “if the defendant makes unwelcomed physical, verbal or non-verbal abuse of sexual nature.” It is graded as a petty misdemeanor with a prison term of one month to less than a year.