#MeToo: Speaking Out Against Sexual Abuse and Harassment
#MeToo At first I really didn't want to discuss the incidences. There have been so many of them in my life that to tell you I've been both sexually assaulted and harassed seems almost a non-point. I've been sexually assaulted more times than I can count but let's keep it to perpetrators. The first time I was sexually assaulted I was five years old. The person who assaulted me was a friend of my uncle's and he coerced me by promising to read me a story. I'll spare you the morbid details of the account or maybe I am actually sparing myself from going back down Nightmare Lane. The second time I was sexually assaulted it was a much older man and my father's boss, I was 9 years old.
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The third time it was my ex-Stepfather, someone who many people in my "family" still consider to be "family." This is probably one of the reasons why I have issues with my relatives - those who could call someone who raped me repeatedly a family member confuse me and for a number of years it psychologically damaged me to the point I wanted to kill myself. Yes, it literally made me suicidal and to this day I still do not speak with some family members because of the assaults.
What I want everyone to know, is that every single one of my perpetrators got away with their crimes against me. I never had anyone to protect me, I had to protect myself. It turned me into a bitch, yes, it turned me into a woman who would tear you a new one verbally and then write your disgusting character into a book where I could murder them. I admit that too.
Then there's the sexual harassment. First time that happened I was working at Hardee's/Carl's Jr at 16 and a much older and disgusting man made me so uncomfortable that I quit the job because I was fearful of what he would do if I ever had to work with him alone and he was a GM. So, I said fuck that job and fuck possibly being raped in the cooler at a huge American restaurant chain. Then there's the incidence of when an ex-friend's husband literally slid his hand between my legs and began to rub furiously as he groped at my crotch - right in front of my then husband and his wife and you know who was blamed for his actions?
I was.
No, the Weinstein case isn't the first time this has happened. The disgusting truth of predatory people in professional settings, family settings, and even random places out in public will continue to sink their teeth into any victim they can find - until the victims band together and make them accountable. So, yes #MeToo but I'll be damned if I hide from anyone like that ever again.
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