"When did this happen?" The cop asked me.
"A year ago..." I whispered to him.
"A year ago... why didn't you say anything before?"
"Because I didn't know what to do.."
"Do you still have the clothes?"
"No. I threw them out. They had blood all over them."
"There goes evidence." He whispered to the guidance counselors. "Did you tell anyone?"
"No. I didn't know how to tell someone."
"So no one knows?"
"No."
"Did you like him previously? Cause he is a popular kid in school. Maybe you had a crush on him."
"What? No. I've never looked at him in that light. He has a girlfriend."
"He has a girlfriend? Okay. Are you jealous of her? She's with the popular boy in school."
"I never cared for them. They don't matter to me. Why is this important?"
"I'm just asking. These are important questions. So what did you do afterward?"
"I went to Drama Club rehearsals."
"And you just continued on about your day?"
"I spent most of that rehearsal in the bathroom crying..."
"How old were you when this happened?"
"16."
"Well, it's not statutory rape." He whispered to the guidance counselors. "Now listen. Are you sure you want to press charges? Are you sure you want to go to court? This is not easy and you have a weak case. There's no evidence, you waited a year, you didn't tell anyone and it looks bad. It looks like you were jealous."
"But I wasn't... I didn't ask for this..." Tears started coming down my face as I started to plead for someone to believe me. I started to become sad and angry.
"This is not like Law and Order. This is not television. It doesn't happen and then you go to court and it's done in the next hour. This takes months to do. This takes months to deal with. It's a hard case because you waited so long. It's not very believable because of that."
"I know this isn't a TV show. My countless hours of watching Law and Order: SVU meant nothing. I couldn't do the things I told myself I would do if I was caught in a situation like the ones I see on TV. I know this. I just.. I-I just.."
"What? You just what?"
"I just.. I just didn't want him to be the reason why I killed myself..."
"Well, we don't want you to do that either. So you don't want to press charges?"
"...No..."
"Ok. Well, I'll file a report but that's about it." He says as he starts to leave the room along with the principal.
This was an actual conversation I had when I went to the guidance counselor to report my rape in school! It was my senior year of high school and two days prior, I jumped off a bridge trying to kill myself. I did not know what else to do. I figured that I lived so that I could receive help from someone, ANYONE. But instead, I was questioned viciously by a cop who was not supportive in the slightest. Instead, I opened a new can of worms to the wrath of a bunch of hormone infested high school girls who had it out for me and made the remainder of my senior year a living hell. This is my story.
I've finally opened up about my story publicly on my blog and it shocked my entire following. No one knew. I showed no signs. Everyone recognized me as this Strong, Independent Black Woman who would kick any and everyone's a** if they lay a finger on me.
While this is true now, this wasn't true for a 16-year-old girl who was just raped and her mind didn't jump into action. Her mind jumped into, "This couldn't have happened to me. Me?! Me of all people? No. No way. Nope! I got rid of everything to hide it from myself.
I did not want to be reminded of the fact that someone broke me down entirely and well enough for me to be a shell. And yet, this mindset is what caused everyone to think I was lying.
If you aren't living under a rock, you will know that everyone and their mother was talking about the Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford case. I am here to tell you that this is not uncommon and there are two sides to this coin. Dr. Ford accused Mr. Kavanaugh of raping her YEARS ago.
Most people find it suspicious that she waited so long, the people that she had as witnesses couldn't help her case and the simple fact that she waited so long is what's causing people to question it. I haven't read it in depth to know 100% about the issue but here is my honest opinion:
IF MY RAPIST WANTED TO RUN FOR SUPREME COURT, YOU BET YOUR SWEET A** I WILL REPORT HIM AGAIN!
I do not care how long it's been or why I should care. I do not and will not ever let a man who attacked me run for something of such high importance. That is my first take. Secondly, everyone has a different headspace than the next person. We can't just say, "Well I waited this long for me to get over it." "I would have reported right away." Do you guys understand that each person is different? It took me jumping off a damn bridge to realize what I needed to do.
This is not something that comes easily. The other side of this coin is that no one wants men to be falsely accused. I understand this because it has happened. A woman accused two men of raping her and then later admits to lying about it (a year later) because she didn't want to lose a POTENTIAL BOYFRIEND! SHE RUINED TWO LIVES BECAUSE OF HER OWN SELFISHNESS! HERE! LOOK IT UP!
https://www.foxnews.com/us/new-york-woman-20-who-l...
This is real! This actually happened and this is what makes women look bad. Small cases that are far and few between is what's making coming out and reporting rapists so hard. Understand, the number of women who are raped and the amount of men who are falsely accused is not something that can be compared. They are completely different.
I leave saying this, situations such as the Kavanaugh and Ford case is the reason why most women do not report their rapes or tell anyone. The situation with women falsely accusing men of raping them is another reason. We can't win in this fight. We either supply them with an abundance of proof or we're lying. The system needs to change. People need to change.
