LYNN — Liquea thought she should have been safe spending the night with family, but instead her drink was spiked and she was raped at her cousin’s house in 2012.
Liquea, who asked to be identified only by her first name, left her son with her mother that night and thought it would be OK to go to her cousin’s house. They had gone to the bar earlier that night, where a man she had never met before jumped out at her and relayed that her cousin had asked him to look out for her.
Liquea said she had a few drinks and then went back to her cousin’s house. She asked her cousin to watch over her drink and left it unattended. When she came back and took a sip, within minutes, the rest was a total blackout, she said.
She woke up with a knot on her head, telling a group of supporters at the Lynn Museum on Tuesday night that she would spare them the details, because the rest was pretty disgusting.
“Nobody is supposed to be raped at their family’s house,” Liquea said. “It’s OK now to come forward and not be scared of your testimony of what you’ve been through. Stand (up) and be bold enough to come forward and let people know what (someone) did to you did not tear you down, because it did not tear me down.”
She shouldn’t be alive today. Liquea said her name should be on a tombstone. The third time she was assaulted, she was found nearly lifeless on the side of the road. What kept her alive was her faith, she said, and when doctors were about to take her off of life support, she started breathing on her own.
“I will never let another man violate me,” Liquea said. “Never allow anyone to violate you (or) disrespect you in any manner … Don’t let people out there define who you are.”
Liquea shared her story at the city’s “Take Back the Night” event, which started with a rally at City Hall followed by a march to Lynn Museum where survivors spoke out and music took place. Mayor Thomas M. McGee shared brief remarks with the crowd before the rally kicked off.
The event, part of an international movement against sexual violence, especially violence against women, was hosted by the YWCA North Shore Rape Crisis Center.
“It’s just to show survivors we support them, that we hear them and see them and that we’re here for them also,” said Brittny Maravelias, a representative from the YWCA crisis center.
Another survivor, Piper, a self-described author who prefers they/them pronouns, spoke about how they were raped as a child. There were times when Piper said they let it get the best of them.
“The world became Hell in my eyes, as I started going through the years believing even the most compassionate guys were going to do the same thing you did to me years before,” Piper said. “I grew up terrified that if I confided in someone about what you did to me, that my needs and safety would be jeopardized, that they would be responded with mistreatment or volatile mockery.”
It took until Piper turned 19 that they began to take back “what was ripped” from them. Piper grew tired of living in fear and decided to take back their narrative, not allowing what happened to them define them.
“The world is (expletive) enough as it is, and I will not allow the decisions of anyone to define the value I place for myself,” Piper said. “I have taken back the pen from those aiming to write off my own story, knowing I have always been the author.”
Lynn Police Lt. Marie Hanlon, who heads the department’s domestic violence and sexual assault unit, said sexual assault victimization has increased over the years.
But Hanlon said that statistics showing sexual assault crimes are on the rise may reflect that people are “sick and tired” of saying nothing and are instead reporting the crimes.
Despite that theory, Hanlon said many people are reluctant to report sexual assault. Often, she said the assaults are committed by people the victim trusts, such as family members, friends or prominent people in the community, making reporting the crime difficult.
“No one should have to live in fear,” Hanlon said. “No one should be afraid to report sexual assault. Abusers of all kinds should be held responsible for the horrible acts they commit.”
This story has been updated.
