TW: Sexual Assault

The Cornell 7 case is everywhere in the media right now. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone is weighing in. And honestly, it can be really hard to listen to it all.

But maybe it should be uncomfortable.

Because it is horrific.

And this year, I experienced something horrific too.

I was sexually assaulted.

And I didn't tell anyone. I didn't report it. I didn't fight back. I pretended it didn't happen. I fawned, I compartmentalized, and I did whatever I needed to do to get through the situation and the days that followed.

Because my story isn't special.

In fact, it's horrifyingly ordinary.

In this episode, I'm choosing to share my experience—not for attention, not for pity, and not because I think my story is more important than anyone else's. I'm sharing it because I've carried the shame of it for months, and I'm ready to put some of that shame down.

And if telling my story helps even one woman feel less alone, or helps someone understand that surviving doesn't always look the way we think it does, then it is worth saying out loud.

But this episode is also a plea to the good men.

We need you.

We need you to speak up. We need you to challenge the conversations, the jokes, the behaviour and the silence that allow sexual violence to continue.

Because “it's not all men” doesn't mean much if the men who aren't doing it are still choosing to do nothing.

This is a difficult conversation.

But maybe that's exactly why we need to have it.