Cornell, Domestic Violence and Victim-blaming/shaming
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and I feel like this is a perfect time to start a conversation about abuse of all kinds. This past spring, I was at a fundraiser for an organization I volunteer for, and the theme was calling men to action to protect women and children. Which, let’s be honest, protects our society as a whole.
Like others, I can’t seem to stop watching and reading the opinions and outrage of others regarding the deplorable situation that happened at Cornell University in 2024.
As a woman in my 60s, I have experienced sexual abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment as well as childhood sexual abuse. For decades. And I’m not alone. (Let that sink in.) I am horrified that crimes against girls and women continue. With as many women as I know who speak out against these crimes, it keeps happening.
Why are we not being heard? Why do these crimes continue?
In my circle of women friends, women family members and women co-workers, over 95% of them have experienced some form of sexual crime against them, too.