When you hear a statistic like one in three women and girls has been sexually assaulted, it may seem impossibly high, but includes real people, the women and girls you interact with in a daily basis. Throughout my lifetime of getting to know others, I can personally attest to the veracity of number. Obviously I won’t give names places or details, but I can list them, starting from elementary school. 

One of my friends from Brownie scouts got pregnant in sixth grade. Another friend was moved to a foster home because her physician father has done something. In fact, some other girls I knew in the system were there for that kind of thing too. They were removed, not the adults. Another friend of mine’s little sister was actually her older sister’s child from a teacher and the whole thing was covered up. I rode on the bus with a girl who was assaulted by her mother’s boyfriend. She was so upset because she had said, “No.” A friend of mine was being abused by her Dad the whole time we were friends in high school, but I didn’t find out until later. So many of my college students I went ti school with and later taught and women from my Bible studies have experienced dating and marriage violence as well. So many.

All of these incidents were crimes and very few of the perpetrators were convicted or experienced any legal consequences. The reason I am bringing this up is now that there is a pile of evidence and witnesses to crimes of this nature and worse at the highest level of politics and business. 

As a society, we have to see it through to uphold the laws that are supposed to protect our society, especially the young and vulnerable. If we do not publicly convict these powerful men of their crimes against women and children, then what hope is the rest of us.