Conceived when her mother was raped, this woman brought the rapist to justice

A 45-year-old woman known simply as Daisy has been awarded the Emma Humphreys memorial prize in recognition of her outstanding contribution to helping end male violence, according to The Guardian.

Using a pseudonym to protect her mother’s identity, Daisy was conceived when her mother was raped at age 13 by Carvel Bennett. Daisy was adopted as a baby, but authorities never took action against the rapist. Decades later, it took Daisy nine years of effort to ensure Bennett’s prosecution after having to track him down herself.

“I truly believe racism was a huge factor both in my birth mother’s treatment in the mid-1970s, but also in my treatment by the authorities,” said Daisy, who is Black.

Her birth mother didn’t want to pursue charges against Bennett initially, but Daisy pressed forward, calling herself “a walking crime scene” because her DNA was the evidence that finally led to the now 74-year-old Bennett’s conviction. He is currently serving an 11-year sentence, thanks to Daisy’s determination. Police said that without Daisy, the case against Bennett may have never moved forward. Following Daisy’s lead, her mother decided to testify against Bennett, helping to secure the conviction. The award she received was a special honor Daisy didn’t even realize she had been nominated for.

READ: ‘We’re going to make it together’: Rape survivor felt ‘relief’ after choosing life

“It’s a real privilege and an honour,” she said. “There is still so much silence on the issue of rape conception. It appears to be one of the last taboos in relation to violence against women and girls. For those of us who were rape-conceived, it’s a huge struggle to come to terms with your paternity and in turn one’s sense of self and identity. We are left to carry the shame and stigma of the act of violence that created us.”

But Daisy is working to overcome and end that stigma that exists concerning people conceived in rape, becoming the hero of her mother’s story and of any other woman Bennett may have raped. Society is very critical of women who choose life for their babies conceived in rape and looks down upon those who were created in rape, often calling them the “spawn of Satan” and other horrific names. But as rape victims who have chosen life have repeatedly said, having their baby helped them to heal from the violent attack against them. Yet, many who have chosen or been forced into abortion have said that the abortion was a second act of violent trauma following the rape — an act that did not help them to heal and only compounded their pain.

Daisy is also working to change the law so that children conceived in rape are recognized as secondary victims of the rape. The false solution of abortion treats these children as criminals like their fathers when in reality, they are survivors like their mothers. She is advocating for better treatment and support from the justice system for these children. She is also pushing for victimless prosecution, in which the victim may be too traumatized to testify or she may have died, but the DNA evidence from the child can be used to prosecute and convict the rapist.

Children conceived in rape are not evil, as is evident by the good work Daisy is doing to help women and other people like her who have been conceived in rape. No child deserves to be punished for the crimes of her father and no woman should be made to feel that her child is better off dead for being conceived in rape.

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