Thursday, April 28, 2011

I can't help but cry

I love The Curvature and visit it often. There hasn't been an update in a while and the last post is on the De Anza rape case, an open letter in empathy to the victim since she lost the civil suit too. I had already read it, but couldn't help myself from reading it again. Maybe because the complete lack of justice in this case hurts and I'm still trying to process it, I don't know. But I decided to read Cara's earliest post on this. It's full of rage and understandably so, but coherent nonetheless. I also read the one following it. Cara's been at this case for a while, so I imagine she's still pretty upset by this.



I just...I'm a feminist and an anti-sexual activist, so I know that the justice system and the rest of society are awful to victims of sexual assault. But some cases of injustice are so terrible that even I find myself shocked. I'm not currently in a position where I can simply curl up for a day and cry, but it's what I feel like doing. It's what I felt like doing during the height of the Left's sexual assault apologia in the Julian Assange rape case. And it's what I felt like doing when I read the tragic story of Hope Witsell, who was slut-shamed into suicide.

Sexual assault disturbs me, and I've certainly suffered my share; it disturbs me more than anything else, and there are some cases I find...triggering I suppose. And I've been having a lot of arguments with people about sexual assault (mostly on deviantART) because anger motivates me. But really, it would be nice to have a day where I can just be an emotional wreck. And then all I can think of is how the De Anza rape survivor (I consider her a survivor now because she's done her part, damn it; the only thing more she can do to help herself is counseling and I don't even know if that's free or even reasonble in the US) might also not be able to have a day to herself, and I know that she feels much worse than I do. So I'll keep arguing. Until people get it the fuck through their heads that sexual assault is wrong, horrible, should never happen, and is solely the fault of the sexual assailant, and the rape culture that supports him.

2 comments:

  1. I'm gonna be a debbie-downer and say: Counseling in the US is hella expensive. Your insurance has to cover it for it to be even reasonably affordable, and then your insurance only covers os many, and it can be difficult to find a truly effective counselor that you feel safe spilling your guts to and crying to, and then that person usually isn't covered by your insurance.
    I use you as a synonym for me and my counselor experiences.
    Granted I don't speak for everyone, I sincerely hope that she is able to find a good and effective counselor for cheap.

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  2. I keep forgetting that the US doesn't have free sexual assault crisis centres like they do here in Canada. Jeez, my heart goes out to her.

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