"It is a hard time to be a young man in America".

That is the bullshit I heard when I turned on my TV today. That is a sentence that actually came out of the person's mouth that this country elected to be our President.

Well, Mr. President let me tell you what's actually hard.

It's hard to be a 14-year-old girl and have men message you on sites that are supposed to be for kids lying about their age to talk to you. It's hard being a 15-year-old girl sexually assaulted by her first boyfriend and then being scared into ever telling anyone about it. It's hard being a 16-year-old girl just trying to get through a day of school and having a group of boys comes around slapping your ass for a little game they called "Slap ass Friday". It's hard being an 18-year-old girl walking down the street getting catcalled and propositioned by men to the point that you are scared to walk in broad daylight by yourself. It's hard being a 20-year-old young woman and talking to people you think really care about you and being raped by two of them. It's hard being a 21-year-old woman and hearing the President of the United States defend rapists and sexual predators in general.

That is hard, but know what is not hard?

Being called out for being a sexual predator. It wasn't hard for a young man to rip my underwear and throw them in the back seat of his car and continue to take what he wanted. It wasn't hard for a 25-year-old man to tell me he was 17 and pursue a sexual relationship with me for 11 months. It wasn't hard for a young man to tell me it didn't matter what I wanted. It wasn't hard for a random construction worker to stop me on my way to a concert and ask if I had time to go back to his house for a quickie. So please, you absolute ignorant man, inform me and the millions of other girls who have been taken advantage of how it is a hard time to be a young man in this country.

The first time I was assaulted was by my boyfriend, it happened countless times and I was silent about it countless times. The second time I was 20 years old and I was raped twice in a month, and I stayed silent about it. Coming forward scares me more than staying quiet. Letting people know my deepest darkest secret was something that I could not let happen, until now. I waited six long years to tell anyone other than my best friend what happened to me at age 15 and if I went by the countless things I have heard in the news said by politicians lately, that would mean I was "making it up". Because apparently, people who have never been sexually assaulted do not understand the incredibly horrifying thought of describing to anyone else what happened to you. Something else I have heard is "There were no witnesses so it never happened" and that is so bizarre to me because there hasn't been a time that I have been assaulted and someone else was present. I imagine it is that way for most people because who would let that sick crime happen if they were present?

I spent six years hiding this huge burden of my past and not speaking up and speaking my truth and that time has come to an end. Following the case with Dr. Ford and the vile man whose name I will not type, I knew I needed to say something and needed to voice my story because the people who invalidated her stories would probably invalidate mine as well. Because I have no evidence- besides the scares that occur after it happens are the kind that never leaves. It's the vivid movie-like memories that play on repeat whenever the people that hurt me are brought up.

There is nothing we can do to stop sexual assault. Period.

It is something that will always happen but we need to put elected officials in office that recognize the danger of it and will not victim blame, especially on national TV (literally the biggest f*ck you to Trump). The elections are on November 6th, so please make sure you are registered and are actively voting. If we don't vote things stay the same.

And my last final words are this, Dr. Ford I stand with you. I believe you.