Every 90 seconds, someone can say #MeToo

I hate this topic.  I hate thinking about it, I hate talking about it, I hate writing about it.  That said, sexual assault is not something I can turn a blind eye to.  This is something that I feel is very necessary to discuss or at least shed light to if nothing else.

Growing up, I thought that sexual abuse was always going to be something obvious that could be avoided if you just ______.  The older I got, the more inaccurate I learned that to be.

Sexual assault can come from anywhere but is most commonly from someone the victim knows or even is related to.  The act tends to occur at the victim’s house or very close by.  Girls ages 16-19 are four times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault.  Female college students ages 18-24 are three times more likely than women in the general population to experience sexual violence.  It’s reported that only 1 in 6 American women have survived an attempted or completed rape in their lifetimes.

However, this isn’t a problem that only women face.  3% of American men have experienced an attempted or completed rape.  As of 1998, 2.78 million men in the U.S. had been victims of attempted or completed rape.  This is a problem that impacts hundreds of thousands of lives every year.

This is a problem that can be difficult to discuss and approach, I know.  But we can’t just stand by and let it happen.  I didn’t realize how many of my own friends had been personally impacted by this madness.  This is one of those topics that I would occasionally fall into the thinking of “oh but it wouldn’t happen to them.”  It can happen to anyone at any time.  This isn’t a problem that only targets certain people or demographics.  It’s a wild and varying issue that must be stood against.  No one wants to be able to say #MeToo but far too many of us are able to.  It’s sickening.  Everyone has their own stories and can relate in different ways.  Whether it’s personal or someone you know, it’s not a foreign problem.  It’s a problem that is far too present.

I’ve seen #MeToo spreading all over social media, but Facebook and Twitter seem to be hosting the tag most prominently.  My current concern is that Facebook will try to drown it out with a “join me in pretending problems don’t exist” chain post.  I want to see positive posts all over social media, sure.  I just don’t want to watch people sweep this life ruining issue under the rug just because it’s a scary topic.

Yes, it is terrifying.  It’s scary to read something that reminds you of what happened that you will never forget.  It’s scary to read that statistically, you might be in the most vulnerable stage of your life and it won’t be getting any safer any time soon.  It’s scary to think about all of the people that you know who are fighting for their safety and their lives just because someone sees their own desires as top priority.  It’s even scarier to realize how many people are fighting silently that you know.

The people that you know that are fighting all alone because they don’t feel the need to tell their story or even that they have a story, they just want to battle this monstrosity.  Honestly, the stories are our own, individually. But the problem is our own, collectively.

(Statistics provided chiefly by rainn.org and Huffington Post)