Intense, and perhaps difficult to read, but this articulates so well what is meant by “rape culture.” We live in an ambient, unseen culture of sexual assault, and until we look at it in the mirror, look at these behaviors, look ourselves in the eye, we cannot move beyond this culture.
*This piece has been published with permission of the referenced ex-partner. Other relationships may have been slightly altered to protect specific identities.*
The first time I was sexually assaulted I must have been 9 or 10 years old.
I was violated by two family friends who were brothers and who would have been about 14 and 15.
Or maybe that was the second time.
The first time might have been by an older female cousin around the same time. She pressured me to go into a closet and make out with her. I think we may have done more, but I don’t like to think about that.
I didn’t object to any of these interactions. I was too young for that to matter, of course, but it was difficult for me to make sense of the fact that I consented without having the agency to do so, thus I had…
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Shauna Aura Knight 