Sexual assault victims speak out

Judge Kavanaugh was elected into the Supreme Court on Oct. 6, 2018, even after being accused by four women of sexual assault. One of the girls was Dr. Ford, who was scrutinized for her accusation. Many girls are not happy with this decision.

“I was pretty disappointed but not surprised. Because our president was accused of those thing and he still got elected. But it is really disappointed to know we’re still at a stage where it doesn’t matter that women are being violated,” said by junior Claire Franco. Some of the highest people in of our nation have been accused of sexual assault.

Ford’s story is similar to many girls. She said Kavanaugh covered her mouth to keep her from screaming, and the same happened to a girl at Har-Ber.

She was assaulted three different times, twice by a person she didn’t know and once by her boyfriend, at the time.

The first time the guy covered her mouth. The first two times she was young; she didn’t know them and hasn’t seen them again. The third time was her boyfriend, at the time.

He got her alone and undressed her. She told him to stop but he didn’t. He only stopped once she yelled.

He asked why, this is what we are supposed to do in a relationship. She went on to tell him that if this is what a relationship is, then she wants out and ended it..

“I tried, the first time no one believed me and that was hard.”

My family thought it was a way for me to get attention,” said a sophomore. The older she got, the more people began to believe her.

“My mom was there for me. She was very kind and understanding. That’s just what some guys do, you got to be more careful. I thought that was weird because I should be the one to be told to be more careful,” said a sophomore. She wasn’t doing anything wrong, so why should she be more careful.

“Since I didn’t know them and haven’t seen them since, except my boyfriend, I didn’t report them. Because I didn’t not want to get him in trouble,”said a sophomore. She didn’t report because she didn’t want to ruin her boyfriend’s life.

She’s not the only one.

A junior was assaulted by one of her female friends, around the age of 11 or 12.  That night she was spending the night at the assaulter’s house. Her friend was watching a video, so she asked what she was watching. It was porn.

She forced her to watch or she would rape her so she watched it.

Then later that night they were sleeping in the same bed.

Her friend sexually assaulted her.

“It changed the way I saw the world,” said the junior when she was sharing her story. This is still affecting her today.                

“In a way yes, but not negatively anymore. Now I can use it for other people,” said the junior.

This is something that will probably still affect her for the rest of her life. But instead of it affecting her negatively, she wants to use it to help others like her.

“I’m not saying I’m glad it happened, but I’m glad I can share this with other people who are going though the same thing,” said the junior.

Many people won’t talk about their experiences with sexual harassment but she is choosing to share her story to let others know it will be okay. There is something they can do.

“Because I was scared of her and I didn’t really understand, understand that I could get help,” said the junior.

When asked if she reported it, she said she didn’t. She was scared and confused so she stayed quiet.

“I do regret not reporting it because she had a foster sister who 8 with mental disabilities and she would do the same thing to her,” said the junior.

Her friend assaulted her eight-year-old sister.

“I forgive her. Even though she did something horrible, I don’t hold that grudge in my heart anymore,” said the junior.

Even though she did something horrible, she forgives her.

“I have been sexually harassed and that’s why I believe all sexually harassed survivors,” said senior, Chesney Todd.

No one should lie about sexual assault.

“There are certain situations that should follow you,” said Todd.

She believes that if something is little, it shouldn’t follow you around. But when it’s something big like murder or sexual assault, the person responsible for that should be punished for that.

“We need to stop all the victim blaming. It’s not about what people wear, where they were or how drunk about,” said Franco, “It’s about rapists being rapists and assaulters being assaulters.”

According to Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, only 6 out of every 1000 perpetrators end up in jail.

One out of every six women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime.

On average, there are 321,500 victims of rape and sexual assault each year in the United States, 12 or older.