A not so happy topic: Sexual assault in the US and Uganda

Warning: this post deals with sexual assault. If you may be triggered by it, don't read it!

For various reasons, this was not what I wanted to spend my week thinking about. However, it has been brought up time and time again, in every situation imaginable:

Sexual assault.

For some, this may not cause any emotional reaction--it is merely a fact of life that some people live with. For others, any mention of this causes horrendous pain and indignation. 

Sexual assault happens everyday, everywhere, to anyone... of ANY gender. It happens by those you least expect, by those you think are just a little unstable, and by anyone... of ANY gender. As a broad-sweeping phrase--sexual assault involves unwanted sexual contact, and can be as severe as rape. Let me assure you though, any form of sexual assault is devastating.

The effects are painful and crushing. Imagine waking up every day knowing that while on the surface nothing has changed, your life feels forever marked (though I would argue that this "mark" fades).

Tonight is Take Back the Night on campus--where supporters of victims of sexual violence will parade around the Parkland/PLU area, campaigning for awareness of sexual violence: to break down the stigma, and to encourage people to speak out and speak up. It is common on this night for girls to wear basically their underwear and not much else, and carry signs saying "I'm still not asking for it".

Men's reasons for standing up against sexual
violence. Photo credit Jonathan Grove

Today on campus, men stood outside a tent on the main square of the university, holding signs about why they stood there--to encourage men to engage in the fight against sexual violence (let me give a big shout out to my friend Joe, who was part of organizing this!)

For victims of sexual assault, my university provides an entire Women's Center with Victims Advocates to counsel you in the initial stages of the healing process, and then be there as supporters as you go through counseling in various other ways. 

Zip around the world for a second to East Africa. We all have heard of child prostitution in South-East Asia, but did you know that in Uganda 60% of girls--just those under 18--have been sexually abused? (http://www.abusedchildrensfund.org/statistics.html)

And this only includes those that are known about.

Please take a moment and read the article found here, about a 16 year old girl in Kenya who was gang-raped, and then further tormented by the police. 

I'm honestly at a loss for what to say, and it is not writer's block. How does one even begin to represent 60% of girls under the age of 18 in a few words?

How does such a crime become so accepted? And why do we consider it ok? All kinds of answers spring to mind: complacency, ignorance, and pure and utter evil.

It is not right that sexual violence should happen anywhere, to anyone. And yet it happens with alarming regularity. 

This is not okay, and it is not a problem that will go away on it's own. I know this is kind of a "no duh" statement. But I really want to see the people of Uganda, and Kenya, and all of the world, rise up and 

Stop assaulting girls/women.

Stop victim blaming.

Start taking responsibility.

Start protecting your girls!

I have seen the devastating effects of sexual assault in friends and family. I implore you, no matter where you are: Do not let this go by in your community. Find an organization to get involved with. 

For victims of sexual violence: never be ashamed--it is never your fault. Always pursue healing, because it is possible. And ALWAYS know that you deserve better. Life may never return to "normal", but it will return to "okay", and then it may even switch back into being "great". Your smile will come back again. Stay strong.

ROTC and supportive men stand out in the cold wetness to
bring awareness of sexual assault. Let's end it.