Sexual Assault What was the point?

[LucyLou]

It's looking a lot like the police aren't going to proceed with anything about what I told them.

 

[Sideways]

The same thing happened to me.

For me, I knew in advance that would be the likely outcome. I don’t regret it, because it had become important to me that, in the unlikely event that any other victims came forward, there would already be something on the record to support their story.

It’s different for everyone, but another one of the reasons I reported was because I wanted to treat myself like it mattered. I have no control over police processes, or justice systems. But I did have control over whether I treated myself like what happened to me was criminal. I still feel like that was an important part of my recovery - not because of how the rest of the world reacted to my reporting, but because of the impact it had on my relationship with myself.

I’m also grateful that I wasn’t put through the trauma of a trial that likely wouldn’t have been successful. That wouldn’t have been a good outcome for me.

 

[captain jigglypuff]

The police weren’t even notified in my case and that is especially bad considering it happened while I was still a minor by another student the same age in school in front of others the first time. I know for a fact that law enforcement were never involved because I would definitely have remembered talking to an officer after I was sexually assaulted the first time as that is something no one could ever forget. I wasn’t even told that I wasn’t at fault or any rights as a victim either.

 

[arfie]

i will second @Sideways' take that it matters because of the self-validation/respect.

i will also add credence to her assertion that the trials are traumatic. i *won* my day in court and found the trial to be far more traumatic than the crime and nobody seemed to notice or care. it was just-ice, at best.