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3% of American men have experienced an attempted or completed rape. A survivor speaks out: “I want young Black men to know that they are not alone.”
Lea Grover was sexually assaulted by an acquaintance at a party when she was fourteen-years-old. “I was alone. I was fourteen. I didn't have a way home. I didn't know the language to use for what happened to me."
Natalie Kish was drugged and raped by an acquaintance at her off-campus apartment. Though Natalie is glad she quickly sought legal and medical attention, it felt overwhelming to share what happened to her with so many people right away.
Katie Clark was drugged and raped by strangers during a graduate research trip in the Dominican Republic. This was unfortunately not the first time she experienced sexual violence. “The way we address this as a society is to make it very clear that we condemn this behavior.”
Danyol Jaye was sexually abused and raped repeatedly by his older cousin between the ages of 7 and 10. “I just want people to know that they don’t have to be afraid of their truth. Your truth is important, your truth is needed.”
Sharon Billings was sexually assaulted and abused by her husband over the course of four years. It started with controlling behavior and emotional abuse and escalated to become increasingly violent. “The biggest thing for me was when I got to the point where I could let go of responsibility for my husband’s actions. I held myself accountable for a long time.”
Stephanie was sexually assaulted by her uncle on a regular basis between the ages of four and twelve. “It was something I had kept to myself for so long. It really molded a lot of my thoughts, my feelings, my behaviors. It was this huge burden.”
Kassie Edwards was sexually assaulted by a stranger at her university's library while at her work-study job. “You should tell somebody. It doesn’t matter who; go to a friend, mom, dad. If you can’t report it to the police, tell someone you trust.”
Iraida Torres was 14 years old when she returned to the Manhattan apartment building where her family lived, only to be kidnapped before she reached their unit. A man held a knife to her and forced her into a different apartment in the building, where she was held hostage with two other people.
Erin Helfert was a master’s student when she returned to Morocco to research gender-based violence and criminal justice. “I didn’t intend to become the subject of the very thing I was researching in Morocco,” she recalled. “But there I was.”