Emotions and let's not forget - politics are running high right now with the review of the SCOTUS nomination of Brett Kavanaugh. Women from his past, albeit 30 or more years ago, are coming forward to claim that at a minimum Judge Kavanaugh attempted to assault women in his teenage years. I have heard the Fox News report state that Dr. Ford still was fully clothed and was not actually raped. First of all, it is almost as they were admitting that this happened even though the term used was allegedly. Second of all, shame on you and anyone else who thinks that it only counts if the assailant was able to complete the heinous act.
What do I mean? If you are a parent or even know someone who is a parent. Let's say heaven forbid, that you notice someone following you and the child through a grocery store. The person doesn't have any groceries or a cart. The person then trails you through aisle after aisle. Then you notice that the person is taking pictures - not of you, but of your child! (Creeper!) You go to confront the person with the pictures of your child and he/she runs out of the grocery store. Other around who are alerted to your plight try to catch the assailant, but he jumps into a car that is waiting for him in the parking lot. You call the police and the police let you know that this has been reported in the past and the person was likely taking pictures of your child to see if there was a buyer for human trafficking.
My heart bleeds for any parent, person, child, human that has had encountered such a situation. I have 3 children and I was so overprotective of my children that they may have thought I was a nut case! (I might be for other reason.) Now after this ordeal, people are comforting you. Thankfully, your child is not another damaged soul sold off into slavery. Let me ask you, was that parent not traumatized? The child was not abducted. The child is now safely home with the parent. Will the parent not react differently when out with the child? Will it not haunt the parent or become the subject of future dreams? Will the parent not wake up in the middle of the night to make sure that the child they could have lost was still soundly sleeping?
To not confuse this Dr. Ford's testimony, I will tell another tale of attempted rape. At sixteen a young women goes with a couple of friend's to someone's house to hang out. This was not a party. It was a small group of people about 10-12 and the young lady only knows 2 of the people. She goes to put her hoodie in a bedroom where everyone else has dropped their coats on the bed. For some reason she didn't notice that someone was in the room. She turns around and he has closed the door. She heads for the door buy he grabs her arm. He covers her mouth and nose so she can get any words out. The teenage boy pushes her down on the bed and with his hand and still over the girls mouth and nose begins fondling her breasts. The girl is trying to fight back but the boy has enough weight on him to keep her pinned down. It is getting harder for her to fight back because it is getting harder to breathe. She tries to keep her wits about her having been assaulted before. She pretends to lose consciousness from the hand being over her mouth and nose. The young man still fondling the sixteen year old girl notices this. Slides his hands over her body, but finally decides that she is no longer a threat. He gets up to begin to take down his clothes. The girl who has been fighting every urge to fight back with the horror of the roaming hands he had on her just seconds earlier seizes this opportunity to jump up and run to the door. She bangs on the door as he tries to pull her back to the bed. Fortunately, the two friends that she came with hear her banging and are able to break the lock on the bedroom door and get her out.
My heart bleeds for any parent, person, child, human that has had encountered such a situation. I have 3 children and I was so overprotective of my children that they may have thought I was a nut case! (I might be for other reason.) Now after this ordeal, people are comforting you. Thankfully, your child is not another damaged soul sold off into slavery. Let me ask you, was that parent not traumatized? The child was not abducted. The child is now safely home with the parent. Will the parent not react differently when out with the child? Will it not haunt the parent or become the subject of future dreams? Will the parent not wake up in the middle of the night to make sure that the child they could have lost was still soundly sleeping?
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| From: https://www.rainn.org/statistics |
This poor young lady. Again, my heart bleeds for her and all people who can relate to the story. This girl was not penetrated thankfully. Was she not traumatized? Will she react differently when going out to other houses? Even though she is at home in her supposed safety, will it not haunt her or become the subject of future dreams? Does she wonder if she will ever sleep soundly again?
Why do I compare the two? When the door was busted down and the sixteen year old girl fleeing the apartment said what had happened, the teenage boy said she must be mistaken. The door was stuck, she fell on the bed, she kissed him (she didn't), and so on. While the mother who's child could have been abducted was consoled and asked about the stalker, the sixteen year-old was asked about herself. What was she wearing? How short were her shorts? Had she been drinking? Is she sure about what had just happened? Did she say no?
In short, only about 31% of sexual assault case are reported. The victim is repeatedly victimized by the memory, his/herself, and justice system when reported. The trauma of sexual assault can linger with the victim even after he/she thinks that have finally gotten over it. For those who have been lucky enough not to experience sexual assault, please know that millions of survivors are reliving their trauma right now as we debate the merits of the Kavanaugh case.
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If you are a survivor of sexual assault, you are not alone. To reach out for help, one source is the National Sexual Assault hotline 800-656-HOPE (4673).
In short, only about 31% of sexual assault case are reported. The victim is repeatedly victimized by the memory, his/herself, and justice system when reported. The trauma of sexual assault can linger with the victim even after he/she thinks that have finally gotten over it. For those who have been lucky enough not to experience sexual assault, please know that millions of survivors are reliving their trauma right now as we debate the merits of the Kavanaugh case.
_________________________________________________________
If you are a survivor of sexual assault, you are not alone. To reach out for help, one source is the National Sexual Assault hotline 800-656-HOPE (4673).
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