Sexual Assault Awareness
April is Sexual Assault Awareness month. This is a topic that has impacted all of us. Whether it be your personal story, a family member, or a friend… you know someone that has been impacted by sexual violence.
Close to half of all women and over one in six men report experiencing sexual violence at some point in their lives (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024). This is just what is being reported.
If you or someone you know is struggling to process a sexual trauma, please reach out for support. I’m here to help you work through what you’re experiencing or connect you with additional resources. You are not alone. Your story matters.
I believe you.
A close friend of mine wrote a powerful poem regarding their experience with sexual assault. Perhaps you might find your story in the words below.
Questions without answers by Megan Manning
“How are you?”
Such a simple question.
Or is it?
I want to answer,
“It’s complicated.”
I want to say,
“Good. And also
very,
VERY
bad.”
But they don’t want honest answers.
They want to hear “Good,”
“Fine”
and go on with their day.
But
if we’re being honest-
(we’re not)
How could we be good?
How could we be good
when our world
is crumbling down around us?
The systems we believed kept us safe
disappeared.
No.
Worse.
They still exist
with more power than we ever realized.
Just… not for us.
No, not for us.
For them.
The rich.
The powerful.
The men.
Not the victims:
The women.
The children.
The babies.
Who cry out,
who scream out
over
and over
and over
and
over.
They hear us.
Oh, they hear us!
They just don’t care.
Not them:
The rich.
The powerful.
The men.
And when they stop caring
what are we left with?
More men.
Men who learn they’re not held accountable
for their vile actions.
They can’t be punished.
Because-
“Those are false allegations”
“Twisted testimonies”
“The women
are lying.”
“The children
are lying.”
“The babies…”
are lying?
Are they?
Or is the system?
The lie is,
and always has been,
protection.
Protection that is dangled in front of us.
MAYBE
if we are soft enough,
compliant enough,
QUIET enough.
“What were you wearing?”
“Were you drinking?”
“But did you say no?”
As if protection
can be earned
Yet
we are never given
the tools to earn it.
Simply unattainable.
The protection was never for us.
No.
Never.
Not for those who need it most.
For them,
protection comes easily,
It is offered freely,
no strings attached.
It overwhelms
The rich
The powerful.
The men.
“You’re overreacting.”
“There is not enough evidence.”
“It can’t be proven.”
The proof isn’t visible to those
who refuse to see it.
But it is there.
It is always there.
With the women.
The children.
The babies.
“It’s not enough”
Not enough?
NOT
ENOUGH.
What we went through
wasn’t enough?
Our innocence stripped away
wasn’t enough?
Our testimonies-
reliving the horrors
wasn’t enough?
The flashbacks
The police reports
The interviews
The paperwork
The photos
The waiting rooms
The tears
The silence
The shame
The guilt
The depression
The anxiety
The triggers
The sleepless nights
The numbness
The therapy
The pretending
The fear
The self-blame
The telling the story
The questions without answers
The cases that disappear
Over
and over
and over
and
over.
If none of it is enough,
there will never
be
enough.
We
are not enough.
For
the rich,
the powerful,
the monsters.
References:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024). About sexual violence. https://www.cdc.gov/sexual-violence/about/index.html
Manning, M. (2026, February 11). Questions without answers [Unpublished manuscript].