This Is Just The Beginning…
A dozen years ago I had an opportunity I never sought out or wanted. Not in my wildest dreams did I think I’d sit across from an admitted sex offender and discuss his crime. It wasn’t on my radio or television show. It wasn’t for an essay, until now. First, a little background. I was assaulted at an early age by a teacher at my Christian school. He hurt the older girls much worse, but it was enough to make me keep a secret, and stew on it, and harm myself in ways I wasn’t conscious of. It happened again…
#MeToo
“Me too.” This week it became a revived movement. Ten years ago, Tarana Burke started it to support young women of color who had been abused. A week ago a post went up on social media from actress Alyssa Milano. “If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote ‘Me too.’ as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.” The goal was not to fix sexual harassment or assault, but to just define how prevalent it is. It didn’t take long to start to wonder #WhoHasn’t. Millions of women told their…
Time to Stop Blaming the Victim
A few decades ago I was in one of my favorite pubs in Seattle. I eventually made my way to the ladies’ room, which had signs posted in the stalls and by the mirrors: “There have been several rapes & attempted rapes this week. Please be careful.” Well, that’s good to know. Travel in packs — it’s safer. Some poor woman may get attacked if she strays too far from the herd. Bam! Raped. Should have kept up, Missy. It’s just Nature. So National Geographic. I’ll admit to some liquid courage, but I walked into the men’s room to…