I use Audible for nights when I am not able to sleep well. I love reading, but sometimes in the middle of the night it is not feasible to turn on the light and be distracted by the light, so I listen to a book on my Kindle. This time around I listened to Tarana Burke’s book Unbound. She is the original starter of the #MeToo movement that Alyssa Milano supposedly started. This dives deeper into why it was started and how it became what it is today. So many women have endured sexual misconduct from men. Then men are not held accountable in ways women are and that I believe needs to change.
Consider this: 81 percent of women in the USA have been or are being sexually assaulted. One in three women from the ages 11 to 17 have had an attempted rape happen to them. Many of these women and girls are women of color and that is why the original Me Too movement was started because Tarana Burke wanted to give these young girls and women a voice to what has happened to them and that they should not feel powerless or ashamed or guilty for what happened to them. I love this powerful message in this book and I am glad that I know what the true story of this movement. All women, no matter what the color of their skin is should not have to be made to feel powerless or guilty for being assaulted.
In my opinion, I think men need to be accountable and taught how to treat women better. There should be a safe space for women to tell others without fear of rejection, abandonment, and judgement about their assaults. I have been sexually assault three times in my life. Two of the individuals were family members or family friends and the other was a trusted church member. With the church member because he was well respected I did not feel safe in my new founded home in sharing what happened. Right when it happened, while I was running away from the man my new founded sister saw me and my fear and asked me what happened. I told her. She did not tell either, because he was highly respected. This happened inside of the church at a social event. Yes, he felt safe to brazenly do his attempt in open. This makes me sick to my stomach to fathom this now as a 47 year old woman. At 14 when this happened I was terrified. My mom had not even been dead and gone a year when this happned. Trust towards men espeically Christian/Bible believing men is broken. That is something I am still working on. I want whoever is reading this to not be afraid to share their story and to get the counseling and support that they may need. I hope you know that I am a safe person and I will listen if you would like to share your story with me.
I think every women should read or listen to this book.
If you would like to purchase your own copy:
I purchased this book through Audible. The opinions I express are my own and I was not influenced.
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