Story of a Sexual Assault Survivor
The FBI categorizes rape as the second most violent crime a person can experience, second only to murder. To put it another way, it's the most violent and traumatic crime any victim lives to remember. Every two minutes another American is sexually assaulted.
In January of 2001 Lindsay Young was a freshman in college when she was raped by a man she had met weeks before. In honor of National Sexual Assault Awareness & Prevention Month, Savvy Miss is proud to present the empowering story of Lindsay’s six-year journey from being a sexual assault victim to becoming a survivor.
SM: Your rape is classified as “acquaintance” rape meaning you knew your attacker. How did you know him?
Lindsay: My friends and I were at a Karaoke bar one night and we met a group of guys, they were mostly young professionals (mid 20’s). We hung out every now and then.
SM: What happened the night you were raped?
Lindsay: That particular night we were all going bowling, but the lanes were booked so one of the guys, the guy who would later rape me said, “Let’s go back to my place and play cards. I’ve got drinks.” We were there drinking and a couple of hours later I was like “I feel drunk, I feel sleepy” –it’s 2 or 3 a.m. and we were a 30 minute drive from campus—“I’m going to go lay down.”
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Your comments
| fun_in_the_sun | |
| Lindsay's story is very inspiring. I wish more people could hear her story because I know of too many girls that don't tell anyone about being raped because they blame themselves. | |
| o0lilypad0o | |
| My heart goes out to Lindsay and all victims who read this. I was raped while in college as well, only difference being that it was a stranger who attacked me. All what you described, I endured. When I read this article, I cried. I never reported it, and, soon enough, I had isolated myself from the world I thought I knew, became depressed, had panic-attacks, messed around with all sorts of guys, my grades plummeted, took up alcohol and drugs as my coping mechanism, and had wandered away from family and friends who didn't quite get what changed in me but nevertheless wanted to support. Fortunately, my academic counselor recognized my potential, and, while she had no idea what had happened to me, advised that I seek therapy. It took my a long time to trust even my therapist, but ultimately I came out of the experience re-learning how to love my body and re-discover my self-worth. It is a battle, but the time and energy you put into the healing process will aid you immensely in re-connecting to the world. I, too, was terrified at the prospect of reporting the incident because I feared being judged. I encourage any victim of sexual assault to ask for help because you will help yourself recover sooner than you realize. As for me, I have taken part in a campus-sponsored mentoring program for young girls in the community, participate in V-Day productions, and am committed bringing light to this taboo phenomenon. | |
| bella -- ojai | |
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Lindsay, I sincerely admire your courage and strength to persevere and again become the "captain of your ship". Yours is an important story and I thank you and Savvymiss.com for sharing it with all of us. I wish that no one would ever have to think they did something wrong when they were the victim in such a terrible crime. I will be pulling for your continued success and for the success of all the innocent women who have suffered this horrible violation. |
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