The Aftermath

Despite the men being in prison, the women still suffer. Women say that in order to sleep at night, they've "put iron bars on every door and window" (VICE). In a colony where houses used to be left wide open, doors have become locked. The women have not received any kind of care for the aftermath of the attacks. Following the guilty verdict, the community has been silent. Any discussions about the attacks are considered taboo. Survivors are "stained" and colonists believe that it is "all better left unspoken." Some girls do not even know that their mothers are also rape survivors. Victims have learned to suffer on their own.

Meanwhile, a lot of people in the colony still support the men in jail. One rapist's father considered leaving the colony right after his son was arrested due to the hostility from the community, but moving all twelve of his family members was too complicated, so they stayed. He says "over the years, [they have] been accepted back into the fold of Colony life.” Other people in the colony say they would "welcome [the men] back with great pleasure.” These Mennonites believe that if they do not forgive everyone for every crime, then God will not forgive them either. One man explained that he believes that "if they say they will never do it again, we can forgive them and release them" (VICE).

Despite the insistence on forgiveness, paranoia is rampant throughout the colony, and for good reason. Gas rapes continue, regardless of how the women attempt to protect themselves. They remain paralyzed by fear and faith. Sexual abuse, including molestation and incest, is rife throught the colony. The rate of sexual abuse is higher in the Old Colonies than in the United States. One in four women will be sexually abused before the age of eighteen in the United States. That means that more than 25% of women in Mennonite Old Colonies will be abused, even now, after the scandal of the gas rapes.

The rapists claim that “it’s one bag to cover up another bag. The ones who filed the complaint saying we raped their daughters. Those were the ones that did it. Those parents raped their own daughters, and it was the brothers who raped their own sisters. That never saw the light of day" (VICE). Even the father of the youngest convicted rapist believes that the whole gang was framed to cover up widespread incest. Women do not recognize the incest as abuse because they believe they must accept it. Forgive, forget, and go to Heaven. A lack of complete forgiveness means damnation to hell.

One woman explains the effects of the rapes. Photo taken from VICE's documentary "The Ghost Rapes of Bolivia".

During the trial, every woman was evaluated for psychological impact. All of the girls aged under eighteen years old showed signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and a need for long-term counseling, but not a single one has received any form of therapy. Psychological support, including various types of counseling and therapy necessary for the younger victims, has been offered to the women, but the leaders of the colony have rejected the help on the victims' behalf. Bishop Johan Neurdorf, the Bishop of the colony, and therefore the highest authority, said, "Why would they need counseling if they weren’t even awake when it happened?" (VICE). Another civic leader claimed "We'd rather forget than have it be at the forefront of our minds."

For the women who have been attacked though, forgetting is impossible. One woman explained "We don't know how to deal with this pain. I asked myself 'was all of this real?'" (VICE). The stigma of being unfaithful or no longer being a virgin before marriage follows the women around constantly. Mennonite religious rules are clear: women must be virgins at marriage. "I hope that when they turn 18 or 20, they will get married, because it was not their fault," says Peter, one girl's father. "I hope they won't have problems in finding a husband. But I don't know. This is the first time something like this has happened"” (The Guardian).

Leaders of Manitoba Colony offer no explanations for how or why any of the attacks continue to occur. It is simply something they "do not understand" and women have no psychological wounds because they were unconscious. These men have failed these women over and over. And the women simply push through the pain because that is what they are expected to do. How can they fight for their autonomy if they have never known anything different?