Every 98 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted. That makes 321,000 victims of sexual assault per year. 1 out of every 6 women has been a victim of attempted or completed rape. Did you know that one out of every 10 rape victim is male?

Oftentimes people turn their heads when the topic goes to sexual assault because it makes them uncomfortable and many cannot relate. You know what, though? I'm glad they can't relate because being sexually assaulted is one of the most traumatic things that could ever happen to someone. Since it's such a taboo topic to talk about in everyday life, someone made a hashtag on Twitter to speak out about it.

#MeToo was a hashtag created for victims of completed or attempted rape or sexual assault of any kind to speak out about. One could simply tweet #MeToo with no story, or they could be brave enough to tell their story to the world. No one owes you their story, no one of that kind of trauma deserves anyone anything, but knowing they had a safe space to speak up was something that was very important. Admitting to being sexually assaulted is a huge deal to most survivors and them speaking up about it is so empowering to other survivors.

Rape is something in America that is so normalized and often goes unpunished.

That is so disgusting.

We need to stand up against rape, we need to be there for the survivors and we need to listen and believe those who say they have been a victim of it rather than being so insensitive.

America, listen.

America, empathize.

America, do better.