IMG_5243Today, as we reflect on the guilty verdicts of the underage minors who raped a fellow classmate this past summer in Steubenville, I can’t help but be reminded that 43 years ago, I was abducted and raped as a virgin 9 year old girl.  While I observe our nation’s ongoing outrage over such a heinous crime, the lenient sentencing of these adolescent boys and the subsequent arrest today of 2 fellow females caught issuing death threats against the victim, I also cannot neglect the fact that the rape victim in this case chose to intoxicate herself into oblivion.   I raise this point to sound the trumpets AGAIN to remind the world that regardless of a woman’s physical and mental state, there is NEVER the justification to subject another human being to a criminal physical act. 
As a young girl, I was not spared my consciousness as I feared for my life while being led away against my will into a rat-infested basement to have my virginity stolen from me.   My brain, my psyche and my spirit were all fully present as I lived through an out-of-body experience while held in bondage by the hands of the devil.  I believe that my guardian angels saved my life that day and, each and every day since, have given me the will to stare down the evil I witnessed first hand.  The peaks and valleys of my healing continue to this very day, as the twists and turns of recovery cannot be predicted.  And so, I know of the challenges that await every victim as they pick up the torn pieces of their life and try to start over.
I grieve today for all my fellow victims within our sisterhood of rape.  I will pray that they’ll each become stronger in recovery with each passing day and that some of them will choose to find solace in sharing their experience because I’ve discovered optimal healing while serving as an outspoken advocate.  Please contact the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (R.A.I.N.N.) at (202) 544-3064 for information on how you can help.  God spared my life on the day I was raped and so, in humbly expressing my gratitude, I must continue to help others. NEWYORICANGIRL