This contains mature/graphic content.

If you have ever been sexually assaulted or raped, I want you to know #IStandWithYou. The most appalling thing I have experienced during this horrific time is a woman saying to me, “It’s not like he raped her.” It took every last ounce of strength and determination in me not to break her jaw for that. Women who don’t stand with other women, who immediately take the side of a man simply because “he’s a man”, are women I don’t want anywhere near me.

For the record, men have come forward with their own stories and I believe them, because it takes a great amount of strength to stand up and speak the truth.

I’ve been trained, since birth, to speak up, speak out, do not be afraid, and to KNOW there is strength in what I have to say. As long as I know the truth in my heart, I do NOT care if I am believed by assholes who are quick to judge.

I’ve had friends come to me in light of the #MeToo movement with stories that broke my heart and took extraordinary amounts of strength to write, leave alone say to someone else. I have had friends who were raped who were verbally abused by cops when they demanded to report it as the crime that it is. I’ve had friends who were sexually molested and tortured as children, and no one believed them, not even their families. I stand with them and I will keep doing so.

#BelieveSurvivors