I Have Nothing More to Say About Rape

I’m sick of trotting out the details of my assault to try and enlighten other people.

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TW: Sexual Assault, Victim Blaming

I wrote about assault when Kesha’s song “Praying” came out. I wrote about assault when Terry Crews reported his groping. I wrote about assault when I got in touch with my abuser’s most recent victim, and traded war stories with them and was shaken and disturbed by how much his violence had escalated. I wrote about assault when the Aziz Ansari accusations came to light and countless people wanted to tear “Grace” apart. I wrote about assault when Al Franken was accused.

I wrote about assault whenever a woman told me that I needed to toughen up. I wrote about assault when people wrung their hands over rapists facing consequences. I wrote about assault when a prominent University in my area attempted to discourage the use of trigger warnings in classrooms. I wrote about assault while a student of mine was in the midst of pressing charges against their rapist. I wrote about assault when I realized a man who raped me had died.

I wrote about assault when I received hate mail for writing about assault. I wrote about assault when people demanded that I recount my own experiences in greater detail, demanding that I “prove” I had been…