The transgender model cum activist, Munroe Bergdorf, 34 has openly narrated her ordeal at the hands of a man who stalked her after a night out, brutally raped and locked her in a room for two hours. This she did while on the Loose Women panel.
According to her, the man had found out where she worked. He proceeded to stalk her before carrying out the horrifying act which she believes was made possible given the ‘demonisation‘ of transgender bodies. Muroe had revealed this when asked how she felt about her transition.
She said;
There was a really difficult time in the book, I was sexually assaulted right at the beginning of my transition.’ I had this encounter because society demonises our bodies so much to the point where men who find us attractive are being fed it is so wrong that they do it in secret and often enact sexual violence on us.
‘I was locked in a room for two hours and raped, I was stalked for six hours before, I met him on a night out and then he found where I lived and where I worked and raped me very badly.
‘It just sent me on a really dark trajectory because there was no help and socially and culturally things have gotten worse and we are being painted as the people you should be looking out for when really we are all being affected with misogyny and violence against women.’
In an interview with The Guardian, Munroe said;
When you look at someone and you know they want to kill you, and they don’t see you as human enough to respect you when you say ‘no, you don’t want to have sex with them’, and [they] rape you anyway, that just kills a part of you.’
‘I don’t know how I can unsee that. I still struggle to think of that period because I lost all hope. After that, I started hating myself a lot and entered abusive relationships because I didn’t think I deserved any more.’
Munroe Bergdorf is considered the first trans person to have appeared on the cover of Cosmopolitan UK and to be hired by the cosmetics giant L’Oréal. She recently announced the publication of her book, a memoir, narrating her experiences from childhood until she transitioned. She admits that writing the book was a struggle for her.
According to her,
I do feel proud of myself for getting through it and for taking something positive from it. For a long time, I struggled to see the upside.”
Munroe considers herself an advocate for other trans-women in dysfunctional relationships, and abuse. Especially those seeking solace in drugs and alcohol, and mental health collapsing.
What do you think about Munroe Bergdorf’s story? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.
