I made a post on this subreddit a few months back asking for clarification on a situation I thought was rape. After some therapy, talking to several friends, and a lot of journaling, I realized that not only was I raped, but assaulted multiple times by my partner. I've been itching with anger for weeks now over it. I skipped so many events these past few weeks because I don't want to run into him or any of his friends.
I've been talking to my family about it as well. They've been supportive overall, with the exception of my violently misogynistic father, but that's a discussion for another post or therapy session. As I've been telling people, I've decided to start telling people within the friend group he frequents. Again, for the most part, I've been met with support and disgust for his actions. One of his friends however, was not so understanding.
The wild thing is she reached out to me first feigning support. My best friend told her what happened between J and I. J's friend (let's call her Berry) reached out asking how she could help. I told her what happened between us, and she took a few days to get back to me. When she did respond, she said she could talk to J, let him know how he hurt me, then he could write a letter showing remorse for his actions.
I (obviously) told her that that was inappropriate and she was overstepping by assuming what I wanted to do. She basically did a complete 360 on me and came back with a long ass response saying she talked to another woman he used to sleep with and how *she* never had any experience like that with J. She ran her fingers across her keyboard to tell me that she and J used to sleep together and how he had treated her with respect the whole time. Now is a good time to mention that Berry is white, J is biracial, and I am fully black.
In her response she said she believed me but didn't "understand" how he could've done something like that. I was livid. I told her to get a grip and that her statements meant she very clearly didn't believe me. If belief is only conditional to being a certain level of awful from someone you don't know, then that's not belief. That's conditional sympathy.
She never responded to any of it, but took it upon herself to:
Spread lies about what happened between J and I, calling it "kink gone wrong" and "a miscommunication"
Go on vacation with him and post a picture with him saying how much she loved her friends
Again, I'm livid. I've bitched about it in therapy, cried to my friends about it, screamed at my father for his reaction to my rape, and written entry after entry about how much I hate him and myself for what happened. I want him, both of them really, to have a consequence.
Neither of them are safe people for women, especially black women, to be around. They're both incredibly popular within the queer community on my side of town. He's a DJ and has been getting shows on my side of town lately too. I've been avoiding going out but hate that I feel the need to put my life on hold because of their shit ass actions. I've typed up a post detailing what he did to me and get so close to posting it every day.
I keep having to unfollow people when I see they're at his shows. I've blocked Berry and J on everything. I blocked his best friend to avoid any further backlash, but it's still not enough. I'm sick of being told to "wait for the universe" or "God will handle it in time". I don't believe in God and the universe moves too slow. I want so badly to hit him where it hurts, his reputation.
I know I can't physically hurt him or even spit in his eye should I see him in public again. I don't want to see him ever again. But I do want to make him suffer and afraid to run into me the way I'm scared of running into him. Not because I'm scared of what he'll do, but because of what I'll do. Sacrificing my comfort and being the "bigger person" shouldn't be the response to being raped. People are so scared of a woman (well anybody) who comes forward because it means they have to examine their own thoughts and actions in regard to consent and sexual violence. My own mother, who told me shes been raped too, told me to not say anything and to "wait for God". I can't. I simply can't.
This is getting long, and I'm at work typing this. Does anyone whose come forward about their rapist have any advice? A friend of mine who was raped and made a post about it says it did make her feel a lot better. After getting into a screaming match about it with my dad and the shit with Berry, I'm really not afraid of what anyone could say in defense of J.
In the wake of the Cornell terror, I just can't stay quiet anymore. Rapists deserve consequences, no matter what those may be. Not silent survivors being told to quiet our anger lest we offend someone.