"I Can't Forget What Happened, But No One Else Remembers"

*Note: Trigger Warning*

As a young girl, I remember learning what rape was, but never fully understanding it. It was something that happened far far away from me. How wrong could I have been. In high school, I learned that my mother had been raped by my father multiple times. (Yes, a husband can rape his wife. If she says no, SHE MEANS NO!)

Unknowingly, rape was always a part of my life. No, it did not happen to me; it happened to a person I loved.

Wouldn't I have guessed it? Never.

As I continued to grow, surprisingly many of my friends came to me and told me that they had in fact been raped or sexually assaulted. I don't think I can count the number on my fingers any more.

What was happening around me? Was I even immune to rape? I had already been sexually assaulted by people close to me, which brings me to the next issue.

Rape is often perpetrated by someone you know closely or are acquainted with...it is RARELY a stranger.

Now everything was adding up as I learned this message in college. It wasn't that a random person was going to come up and rape me. That happens, but that's the least of my worries, although not at all omitted. I was sexually assaulted by friends.

Read that again so that it sinks in:

I was sexually assaulted by friends.

No, it's not the fact that I could have chosen better friends. In the end, I did! But how was I supposed to know that this would ever happen to me?

How did any of my friends who were raped aware that their friends or acquaintances or family would rape them?

My mom certainly didn't think it'd be an issue.

What I'm trying to get at is that it can happen to anyone by anyone. But more importantly, by people you may know and love.

By a significant difference, men rape women. And it's not an accident.

How often do you hear about men complaining that women won't go out with them? How often do you hear sexist jokes against women? How often do you hear boys and men complaining that women are only after their money? That they are stupid? That we complain about equality? That we even open our mouths about inequality? The list goes on.

Think hard about it. How do you feel about women? Do you often feel they owe you something? Do you feel they are catty, stupid bitches? Do you often substitute the word bitch for girl or woman?

1 in 4 women will be raped. It is NOT a coincidence!!!

On Valentine's Day of this year, Force (an organization determined to upset rape culture) put up a memorial in between the Lincoln and Washington Memorials in Washington DC. They laid down the text, "I Can't Forget What Happened, But No One Else Remembers," in attempts to commemorate all rape victims. The text was taken from a poem written by an anonymous poet who had been raped. (Source)

This is what it looked like:

I can't forget what has happened to any of my friends and family either. Let us put a stop to this. It takes all of us to come together to fulfill this.