wandering stars

But I also want y’all to remember the follow-up piece, where Sophie Saint Thomas reported the assault to the police and it didn’t go well. From a cab company that refused to give her the driver’s name to a police officer who questioned her loudly and in public — Sophie’s experience was unpleasant and completely run of the mill. Even so, her conclusion is that we must do everything we can do “catch and stop” sexual predators.

And, in the face of a day’s worth of relatively minor trauma, I can understand that conclusion. It’s a conclusion that speaks of women feeling empowered — women who will not remain silent in the face of their victimization.

If that is the position in which you find yourself after a sexual assault, I — and, I am 100% sure, the other xoJane folks, including Jane herself — am here to support you.

But we fail each other profoundly when we ignore that not everyone is in this position.