I have been watching the U.S. presidential election with keen interest from the beginning, and the rise of Donald Trump in particular.
When everyone was saying, “Oh, he won’t get far,” I was saying, “I think he will.”
Over time, my interest has turned to disbelief and, more recently, to loathing and rising anger.
Mr. Trump’s blasé attitude towards sexual assault and, more importantly, his refusal to acknowledge his actions, have led me to this moment, a moment where I feel in the interests of women and young girls that I must speak up.
I was raised in an era when fending off unwanted attentions from men was, simply put, a fact of life. There was no way to predict who the offender might be.
We had no recourse available to us. We believed there would be no point. We were forced to act like no harm had been done. There were no repercussions.
As a girl/woman, you "managed" and moved on.
In my case, harm was caused when I was raped and became pregnant. I told no one what had happened because I did not understand what had happened to me.
I did not have the tools or the vocabulary for comprehension. I allowed my parents, family and others to think I was "a very bad girl."
I carried the baby to term and refused to consider adoption and kept the baby.
I never did learn to live with the shame.
Until recently, I never admitted to anyone what had happened.
Unfortunately, I waited too late to do this and I am beginning to understand that this may be the reason I am reacting so strongly to the Trump accusations.
It frightens me to hear so many people say that this doesn't matter, and that this is just "locker room” talk or “boy's talk."
They are incapable of understanding that this is wrong on so many levels. When they belittle the women who are just now speaking out, it show their lack of compassion and understanding of exactly what sexual assault is.
I expect more from people in 2016, not this.
Editor’s note: The Journal normally does not publish anything anonymously. We did so here to protect the privacy of the writer, a Sarnia woman.