Chances are you know a sexual assault survivor. Do you know what to say? | Mandy Len Catron

We are in the midst of a reckoning: survivors of assault are sharing their stories and we need to learn how to respond

I was 19 the first time someone shared her story of being sexually assaulted with me. Over AOL Instant Messenger, a friend from high school said she’d lost her virginity at a party a year earlier. “But,” she added, “it wasn’t what I wanted. I was drunk. He took advantage of me.”

I had no idea what to say. I understood that she was describing a traumatizing experience. I could tell she was still upset. What she was alluding to was terrible, but it was also commonplace. I heard stories of hookups gone bad almost every weekend. I sat frozen at my keyboard. Should I ask for details or would that only make it worse? Should I encourage her to talk to someone – her mom, an adviser, a therapist? It didn’t occur to me that she was talking to someone: me.

Continue reading...

from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2xMqRXW