update on sexual assault awareness
Apr. 26th, 2002 12:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alikiSo, a follow-up to my previous post (click here) about TTBN:
15th annual Take Back The Night at Barnard/Columbia was a tough night. It's a night where men and women gather to raise their voices against sexual assault. To stop the accusations, the finger pointings, the guilt-tripping, the blaming of survivors for rape and sexual assault. There were a lot of emotions, a lot of feeelings, empowerment, sadness, bitterness,but most of all, understanding. Understanding that you aren't alone in this fight. That you it wasn't your fault. Understanding that this is bigger than what you wear, how you act, where you walk, and who you know.
One of the most painful stories I heard that night was of a 16 year old girl, told by her older sister's friend. A couple years back, in high school, she attended a party, drank too much, and was raped. She told her parents and the police but the thing is, she was a problem maker in school. Her parents had caught her lying numerous times before and convinced the police that she was probably lying to get attention. the police dismissed her accusations and placed her under house arrest for lying to the police. Everybody thought that she was just trying to get attention, that probably it was consensual sex. Nobody believed that she was raped.
Her parents refused to believe her, told her to stop telling lies, stop making a scene, not to ruin a good boy's name. One week into the house arrest, the mother came home from work. She knew she had to be in the house, but she wasn't in her room, and she wasn't in the bathroom. After searching every room in the house, the mother found her body in the garage, hanging from a noose. She left five notes: One to each of her parents, one to each of her two sisters, and one to her rapist. She was 16 years old.
15th annual Take Back The Night at Barnard/Columbia was a tough night. It's a night where men and women gather to raise their voices against sexual assault. To stop the accusations, the finger pointings, the guilt-tripping, the blaming of survivors for rape and sexual assault. There were a lot of emotions, a lot of feeelings, empowerment, sadness, bitterness,but most of all, understanding. Understanding that you aren't alone in this fight. That you it wasn't your fault. Understanding that this is bigger than what you wear, how you act, where you walk, and who you know.
One of the most painful stories I heard that night was of a 16 year old girl, told by her older sister's friend. A couple years back, in high school, she attended a party, drank too much, and was raped. She told her parents and the police but the thing is, she was a problem maker in school. Her parents had caught her lying numerous times before and convinced the police that she was probably lying to get attention. the police dismissed her accusations and placed her under house arrest for lying to the police. Everybody thought that she was just trying to get attention, that probably it was consensual sex. Nobody believed that she was raped.
Her parents refused to believe her, told her to stop telling lies, stop making a scene, not to ruin a good boy's name. One week into the house arrest, the mother came home from work. She knew she had to be in the house, but she wasn't in her room, and she wasn't in the bathroom. After searching every room in the house, the mother found her body in the garage, hanging from a noose. She left five notes: One to each of her parents, one to each of her two sisters, and one to her rapist. She was 16 years old.
