Content warning: sexual assault, sensitive language
To the boy who didn't take "no" for an answer:
What you did was sexual assault.
You probably don't even think of it that way, if you think of it at all. You told me you just didn't like rejection and that you knew I'd like it if I'd just let you, but you were only thinking of yourself. You didn't care how many times I said no. You didn't care about my feelings. For a while, neither did I.
I spent a long time worrying about hurting your feelings by cutting off contact with you, or treating you like we weren't friends. But we aren't friends. If you could do that to me, we never were.
Now, years later, I have learned to forget about you. I hadn't thought about those days when you'd purposefully find a way to be the last person in the room with me and offer to walk me to my car, only so you could be alone with me and make me feel trapped. I hadn't thought about the disgusting way you'd try to act like what you were doing was an act of "love" or because you "liked me."
This year, I had to listen to our president-elect say those infamous words: "Grab 'em by the p***y." I watched as America chose a man like you to lead our country, and my heart sank. All of that time I spent avoiding thinking about what you'd done came crashing down as I was propelled back in time to relive it over and over again.
You've changed the way I look at the world. You've changed the way I interact with people around me. I want you to think about your actions because I doubt you ever do. Remember: What you did was sexual assault, and it was wrong.
I'm surviving and living my life. Unlike you, I will heed my own feelings and desires. God willing, I will graduate from the university of my dreams in May 2017. I've learned what healthy relationships are, what it's like to have true friends, and how to see myself as beautiful without someone else's approval. That little girl you thought you could take advantage of is not weak. She is strong.
If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault, please seek help. For more information on reporting to authorities, visit: https://www.rainn.org/articles/reporting-law-enfor...
