Last Friday, writer Kelly Oxford took to twitter to share her story of the first time she was sexually assaulted. The incident occurred when Oxford was 12 while riding on a bus. The tweet was a follow-up to the leaked video of Donald Trump's brash remarks about his history of sexually assaulting women, which he dubbed, "locker room talk." Oxford went on to encourage other women to share their stories, using the hashtag #NotOkay.
By Monday, over 27 million people had shared their stories using the #NotOkay and visited Kelly's twitter page. The movement landed a spot on the cover of The New York Times.
I am in such horrendous shock and yet so proud of the women sharing their assaults. #notokay is trending in US. Not our shame anymore ❤️
— kelly oxford (@kellyoxford) October 8, 2016
The stories are horrific, to say the least, and won't take long to drive you to tears. Many women stated that it was their first-time sharing. They recount heinous acts toward women of all ages, from adulthood all the way down to early childhood.
It's fitting that Oxford would be the one to spark such an empowering movement. Her career began back in 1996 when she dropped out of school and picked up a new hobby of "blogging." She quickly became one of the early pioneers of Twitter as she tweeted humorous anecdotes from her life as a stay-at-home mom.
Her tweets garnered attention from agents and lead to her selling multiple screenplays to CBS and NBC, her family moving to Los Angeles in 2012, and Oxford releasing her New York Times bestselling novel 'Everything's Perfect When You're A Liar.'
Kelly Oxford's transparency has often been an inspiration to me. She is candid on her social media platforms about her struggles with depression, anxiety, and other issues of social issues. Now her bravery to share her sexual assault stories online has empowered millions of other women to do the same.
Politics aside, "rape culture" is deeply ingrained in our society and is an issue that needs to be addressed. According to the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization, RAINN, every two minutes another American is sexually assaulted. From 2009-2013, a staggering 69,000 children were victims of sexual abuse.
I made the hashtag #notokay for everyone. This is bigger than a political campaign. Anyone making #notokay political is not affiliated to me
— kelly oxford (@kellyoxford) October 12, 2016
NPR writer, Camila Domonoske shares, "women sharing their stories on Twitter have flung open another door — to a world of sexual violence that is discussed in secrecy or not discussed at all
If you scroll through the stream of tweets, one thing becomes clear. This is not just a political reaction. It's a collective unburdening.
Oxford told her followers that any guilt about these stories belongs to assailants, not to survivors.
'We don't have to carry their shame anymore,' Oxford tweeted."
I encourage you to take a few moments from your day to visit the #NotOkay twitter stream. If there was any doubt that there is a problem, I assure you that your eyes will be opened. I urge my fellow men to take the time to listen and understand our role in this horrible cycle.
Below is an interview Kelly did with CBS. She shares a bit about practical ways that we can begin to unpack these issues and start to move forward. This is not something that can be fixed overnight, but we must take the steps to ensure a better world for women of future generations. By the time you've read to this point, another sexual assault has occurred, and that is #NotOkay.
