Thread by @pptsapper

Trigger warning for sexual assault topic:

In college, one of my female friends was sexually assaulted at a party by another male student. I & another friend forcibly entered the room & extricated our friend. She was shaking with rage & fear. She didn't want to report it.

However, we convinced her that she should, in order to keep it from happening to other women. We accompanied her to the student life office where she detailed what happened. They said since it happened off campus, they couldn't do anything & she shouldn't have been drinking.

They told her that since there was no rape, they had no criminal charges to pursue. Besides, she was underage drinking & should have known better than to go to that party.

My friend suffered from extreme anxiety after that. Her assailant eventually transferred schools.

During basic officer leader course, one of the female officers in the course was groped by an E7 during dress uniform inspection. We encouraged her to report; her dad was an O6, after all. She said no. She didn't want to make waves. She did her contract & got out.

We later brought the E7's behavior to the course OIC who said it was probably nothing & that he couldn't afford to lose a member of his cadre.

I think about these cases - & others I've seen - a lot these days, for obvious reasons. & I wonder how women are able to stay sane.

I am frankly amazed that any sexual assault survivor, male or female, is able to stay sane.

Because I've seen why you don't report. And I can't blame you, I'm not in your shoes. I see the indifference in others.

I'm so, so sorry for what you've had to relive the past few weeks

I can't even begin to say that we'll make this better and we'll fix it. Because obviously we have so far to go. But I can say that you're not alone. There are more of us who believe you than you might think. And someday this will change. It has to.