Ghanaian-Lebanese actress Juliet Ibrahim has spoken up about being raped by a man who claimed to love her.
When she expressed her displeasure with the conduct, he claimed he did not consider his actions to be rape.
Juliet Ibrahim revealed in an interview with Nigerian journalist Chude Jideonwo that her ex pinned her down despite her pleas for him to stop and had his way with her.
“I told him what he did was rape and he said but we are in a relationship. But was I ready? That was the question, did I say I was In the mood? I kept saying no, stop it, stop it, you pin me down and you’re doing whatever you wanted to do.”
“You’re smiling saying don’t worry and you’re kissing while I’m crying, that means you’re a rapist and I had to leave that relationship,” the actress recounted with pain in her voice.
Juliet Ibrahim added that despite her determination to leave, it was a difficult task for her because the man had locked her up in his home.
“Until my sister Sonia came to find me,” she said, her spouse took each opportunity he could to sexually abuse her.
“I was scared, like what do I do? Because this guy is huge, you’ll be against the wall and you can’t do anything, it was every day, that is rape, in those kinds of situation, you cannot even explain, who do you go an tell?”
The actress stated that she did not know how to explain herself to anybody she confided in at the time because she was afraid that people would not believe her.
Juliet Ibrahim, on the other hand, believes that in today’s environment, both women and men have the option of taking matters into their own hands and reporting violent spouses to the police.
“But ladies you can report it now, go and report. If your husband is forcing you to do, when you’re not in the mood, it is rape and I tell these men that you cannot force a woman,” she added.