Taylor Swift is undeniably one of the biggest artists and celebrities of this day and age. Whether you like her or hate her there is no doubt that she has a huge influence. This past week she has been engaged in a high profile civil lawsuit against ex-DJ David Mueller. Swift contends that he groped her ass during a meet-and-great in June 2013. Mueller is suing her, her mother and her management team for damages under the basis that they were the reason he was fired two days later. The judge has since dropped Swift from Mueller's lawsuit because of insufficient evidence. Swift is only suing him for one dollar, a symbolic choice.

Why would Swift sue the man who grabbed her butt for only one dollar? It's quite simple. She is standing up for herself. She is sending a message that it is okay to pursue these cases in court when the whole world tells you not to. In her lawsuit she said she was suing for a dollar "as an example to other women who may resist publicly reliving similar outrageous and humiliating acts."

Sexual assault and rape are the least reported crime to the police in the United States. A study done by the Bureau of Justice found that "only 36 percent of rapes, 34 percent of attempted rapes and 26 percent of sexual assaults were reported." The reasons for this are far-ranging but the most prevalent are that the victim believes it was a personal matter, had a fear of reprisal, believed it was not important enough to report, did not want the perpetrator to get in trouble or it was reported to some one other than the police.

There is a clear stigma against reporting these crimes. This could be due to many different factors. The first being that many people put the blame on the victim, especially if they are female. Many people, including other women, will ask condescending questions regarding their dress, how much they had to drink and if they were leading them on. These questions not only make the victim second guess themselves but can lead to them choosing not to report the incident. Another factor that could be the cause of the lack of reports of sexual assault and rape is that many assailants walk free or get light sentences.

When thinking of the Stanford swimmer Brock Turner who only received six months in jail for rape, many victims may think the trauma of reliving the event and going through a trial is not worth it.Taylor Swift, with her constant press and popularity, is bringing lots of attention to this seldom-discussed issue. Not only is she bringing attention to this issue, but she is refusing to let others tell her she is at fault for it. In her testimony, she stated that "I'm not going to allow you or your client to make me feel in any way that this is my fault, because it isn't."

She also refuses to let them tell her that she could be mistaken saying, "This is what happened, it happened to me, I know it was him." Swift's lawsuit and testimony challenge the victim blaming mindset and the idea that these crimes shouldn't be reported. With her influence, it may be possible to change the way sexual assault is talked about. Many, including myself, are hopeful that by a big celebrity such as herself standing up and doing what's right it could influence many others to do the same. While this is no means an end it is a promising step in the right direction.