By | Iridian Casarez
Victims of sexual assault and sexual harassment need to continue to tell their story. It cannot stop here. It wasn’t until the #metoo movement that people began to acknowledge how sexual assault and sexual harassment was prevalent and happening everywhere. Everyone felt supported enough to tell their stories, including men. Men who, according to society, can’t get raped. Men who are victims of sexual assault don’t report it. The National Sexual Violence Resource center says that about nine percent of men are victims of sexual assault.
53 thousand people and counting participated in the “#MeToo” movement. The hashtag “me too” was used by victims of sexual assault or harassment. All people did was post the hashtag and that was it. It was known to everyone that they had become a victim. It shed light to the fact that anyone could be a victim of sexual assault.
We have seen sex scandals happening way before the Harvey Weinstein allegations. This past February, Uber was under scrutiny after a former engineering employer, Susan Fowler, claimed that she was sexually harassed, as previously reported by Bloomberg Technologies.Kesha, the singer/songwriter, sued her music producer, Dr. Luke because of how he sexually, verbally, and physically abused her. We saw a big rape case a year ago at Stanford University in which an unconscious woman was raped behind a dumpster by Brock Turner. She read a letter outloud to her rapist in open court that was reported by Buzzfeed. But it wasn’t until after more than 2 million posts that we started to listen.
We cannot let this movement die. Rape, Abuse, and Incest Network Statistics (R.A.I.N.N.) says that every 98 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted. R.A.I.N.N says that women who are college-aged are at higher risk for sexual assault.
I have someone close to me that is a victim of sexual assault. I have listened to their stories and I can see the effects of sexual assault. It’s devastating.
#metoo is making it clear that sexual assault, abuse, harassment is always happening. #metoo lets us see the reality of sexual abuse and it must come to an end. We need to continue to tell our stories and we need to seek justice for those who have been sexually abused. We must teach everyone that you need to have consent. Yes, means yes.
If you have been sexually assaulted there is the Campus Advocate Team provided by North Coast Rape CrisisTeam.Support is available for all survivors, no matter when the assault occurred, no matter what age or gender. They can be reached at (707) 445-2881.