Welcome to the SpeakOut! Blog

Break the silence that surrounds sexual assault, sexual harassment, interpersonal violence, relationship abuse, stalking, hate crimes, and identity-based violence. Share your story here on our anonymous blog.

To speak about an experience with any form of interpersonal violence is difficult, but it is also empowering. Breaking the silence reduces shame and helps others to speak out about their own experiences.

End the shame. Be empowered. Speak Out!

Thank you for Speaking Out! We would love to get your permission to share your testimonial. If you would like to allow your testimonial to be used at a later Speak Out!, please let us know by making a comment or a note in your testimonial.

We are holding our spring Speak Out! on April 16th, 2018 from 7-9 pm in The Pit. For more information, check our Facebook page.

Because this blog features stories of interpersonal and sexual violence, we offer this *content warning* as a way of caution. We also ask that you do not reproduce any of the content below, as the authors of these personal stories are anonymous, and cannot give consent for their stories to appear anywhere other than this blog or at a Project Dinah-led SpeakOut event.

Friday, March 4, 2016

He was my housemate. We'd had a couple of things in the past, so when he came into my room and was having a rough time emotionally, I let him spend the night. In the morning, he started making a move on me. I said "I'm not really feeling it" and he put his hand on my neck, pushed me down on the bed, and went at it anyways. I just lay there as still as possible until he left. It honestly didn't even occur to me what happened. Two weeks later, he came into my room and told me he was going to kill himself. I didn't feel comfortable with him staying there, but I let him anyways because I didn't want him to hurt himself. In the morning, he tried making a move again. I said more strongly this time "no" and he tried making a move anyway. I shifted away from him. He held on to me and continued humping me until he got bored and left. It took 6 people to convince me that both of these instances were sexual assault. Two months later, I moved out, but I still see him all of the time because I could only move one house away. Looking back, this event taught me a lot about self respect and friendship. The people who lived in my house with me, who I considered my friends, still hang out with him, and invite him to their parties, even though they know what he did to me. They say "it's more complicated than that," and "you're being over-dramatic." But it's really not. I deserve to be with people who take into consideration who I am and am not comfortable being around, and who do not attempt to belittle my feelings. 

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