Story

Recently, a person in the public eye, in a position of power, wrote off offensive and dangerous words as “locker room talk.” But, as many have fought, these words are not just words. They serve and perpetuate a culture of sexual assault and a society that allows it. Unfortunately, this is not the first time a public figure’s status has overshadowed their words, and dangerous language has been written off.…

“My best friend in the whole world was raped when she was really drunk by a ‘friend’ who took advantage of her. She did everything right and reported it to the police, and he was never convicted. She ended up failing her second semester and drinking her way through her pain so she could survive. She’s so different and so broken now, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get…

“He was my best friend, and I trusted him with my life. And he took advantage of me. When I saw him walk into the courtroom, he had his head held high with not a single look of remorse on his face. Seeing his face again made me feel ashamed all over again, that I was the one to blame, that I was in the wrong. I had believed that…

“Earlier this summer, I was at a party with some friends. We were all drinking and I wasn't going to drive myself home. A boy I had known for about a year offered to drive me back home. I said ‘yes’ not knowing where it would lead. If we're being completely honest I wasn't completely opposed to sex. But my ‘maybe’ turned into an obvious ‘no’ that night he walked…

"For the past few months, I have been called a ‘slut’, an ‘attention whore’, and ‘liar’, by both people I know very well, and people I don’t. I shared my story about rape, and I’ve been shamed for it. But what they don’t realize is that I haven’t had a stable relationship since. I have panic attacks every time I get intimate with someone. I wake up in tears almost…

I was 14 when it all started. I just came home from school and my mom and her fiance were in my room on the computer. When my mom exited the room, it happened. I didn't know what to do, I was scared. He was due to marry my mother in a couple of weeks, and my mom never noticed anything, so it kept on going on. Every time he…

“He had been my best friend since we were eight years old. At the age of 24, we were both engaged to our significant others, so we decided to go out to celebrate a few weeks before his wedding. I got drunk to the point of blacking out. The next thing I knew, he had climbed into bed with me and covered my mouth. I vaguely remember him kissing me…

"I was assaulted by a stranger at a party who said he was a bartender. Because of this, something I wouldn't have usually done, I let him make my drink. Within an hour I was gone. He lured me upstairs where I thought he was going to help me because I felt sick. Instead, he raped me. I tried to warn all of my girlfriends about what happened. I don't…

“We went back to his dorm room, and he got on top of me and took off my shorts. I said ‘What are you doing?’ He didn’t respond and, instead, took his pants off. I tried to push him off of me but he was too strong. I kept saying no but he didn’t listen. He entered me multiple times before his roommate walked in on us. I had never…

“When I was 16, I fell in love with my neighbor, and I lost my virginity to him. He was so aggressive that he permanently scarred me, and he said I was ‘disgusting’ for bleeding on him and left me lying naked on his bedroom floor to go shower. He made me feel so dirty and unworthy. And I still live next door to him two years later.” --------- These…