Submitted by Rachel Rogers, Magnolia Flower Counseling
This letter is provided as opinion/commentary from the author.
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I believe you. I see you. I don’t know who you are, but I know it took every ounce of life force you had to go through the criminal justice process, only for your perpetrator to be found not guilty. And all while dealing with the trauma of what happened to you. I’m so sorry this happened to you. No soul on earth should have to experience what you’ve just experienced.
None of this is your fault. It’s not your fault that we live in a world where perpetrators are not held responsible for sexual violence crimes they commit, as well abducting, choking and binding a person. It’s not your fault that even if we have ‘scientific proof’ with DNA evidence directly linked to the perpetrator, that somehow, he still will be found not guilty. It’s not your fault that these crimes are so disregarded that they let the rape kit backlog get so long that your kit went untested for almost 8 years. It’s not your fault that there are still archaic narratives in our culture related to who gets to be believed and who is not believed (and overwhelming, most survivors are not believed).
I know that finding a sense of safety in this world might forever be a challenge, but I hope you are able to have moments of joy and love and to slowly come back to yourself. You are whole. It’s this world and these systems that are broken. Thank you for taking on this fight, it’s so much for one person to shoulder. Please let the rest of us take this weight off you, and share it amongst ourselves, you don’t have to hold it anymore.