I want to make one thing very clear. I am not brave for saying this. I am not the hero for making this stand. I am speaking my mind on this topic because it is one that people have been too silent on for too long. This is a topic that may be triggering, so please proceed with care and stop when and if you need to.
I’m talking about sexual abuse.
It’s the topic that makes everyone uncomfortable when it pops up on the news. Recently, it has come back into the media because our well loved TV dad Bill Cosby turned out to not be the family friendly person who we all looked up to.
Sexual abuse and rape is an extremely serious issue that needs attention, and frankly, it isn't getting half of the notice it deserves. Every time rape or sexual assault come up I hear, without fail, people defending the attacker and simultaneously blaming the victim. All of your “she was asking for it,” “boys will be boys,” and “did you see what she was wearing?” fall on deaf ears when I’m around.
It’s disgusting and it’s simply not acceptable.
When you victim blame you are speaking to a rapist and actively telling them that it’s okay to rape, speaking to a victim and telling them that it’s their fault for being raped, or you are speaking to someone not related to sexual assault in any way shape or form, but you put out the idea that if they raped by someone, it would be normal.
This victim blaming or otherwise completely silent nature about rape needs to end. Think of it this way: one out of every six women will be the victim of sexual assault or rape in their lifetime. That’s just sickening and it is so unbelievably wrong that it doesn’t seem like it could be true. But it is. Look around on the street, your cafeteria, and your workplace. One out of every six women sitting in that room have gone through trauma that I hope that you will never understand.
With one out of six women being raped, you would think that prisons would be crawling with sex offenders, right? Well, they're not. 68 percent of sexual assaults are never reported to the police and, even when they are, 98 percent of sexual offenders never see a day of prison.
How can we, in 2016, keep allowing this to happen? How can people keep silent while every 107 seconds someone is sexually assaulted in the United States? This is a country that preaches about how safe and secure we are, but, in reality, we just don’t talk about it.
That stops here. We cannot sit idly by and pretend that this doesn’t happen every single day. We need to stand up and say, as a people, that we do not accept this kind of behavior. There can no longer be any “boys will be boys.” Instead of teaching our girls how to protect themselves when walking alone, we need to teach everyone not to rape.
So please take this to heart and make a difference. If you hear someone making a rape joke, victim blaming, or anything of the sort, direct them to this article with these statistics and then ask them if they still think that it’s funny.
Lastly, for those who have been or who continue to be a victim of sexual assault, please believe me when I say that you are not at fault here. You did nothing wrong and if you need help, please talk to those around you those who love and care for you. If nothing else, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline by calling 800-656-HOPE (4673).
