After A Sexual Assault: Women Are Taking Their Power Back

Women are powerful!  Women are resilient!  Women roar!  There aren’t too many things that a woman can’t do, including having babies, multi-tasking, running a corporation, and becoming President of the United States (well, that hasn’t happened YET, but it will).  And, more women than ever who have been sexually assaulted or harassed are now standing up, sharing their story, and taking their power back by not allowing shame and the fear of retaliation to hold them back.  But it hasn’t always been that way.

Needless to say, a woman who has been sexually assaulted suffers unspeakable trauma.  Often she didn’t feel comfortable coming forward or sharing with a friend or a family member what happened to her.  Not only did she most likely experience physical pain but also emotional pain, including shame and humiliation.

But — and this cannot be emphasized enough — sexual assault is NEVER the fault of the assault survivor!  However, after the incident, she worried that it really was her fault.  She reasoned that she drank too much while out with friends or was out too late at night or didn’t listen to that little warning voice in her head that she might be in danger.  She had convinced herself that SHE was the one at fault.  So she bottled up the shame and stayed silent.

And admit it, if the abuser happened to be her boss, or the president of the company, she may be afraid she would suffer retaliation and be demoted or even lose her job if she didn’t acquiesce to his demands. That creep at work (be it the boss or a co-worker whose desk is next to yours) is counting on your silence because of your fear or embarrassment or even keeping your job.  He takes advantage of a climate of fear to sexually harass or assault a woman in his office.

Shockingly, doctors have been sexually abusing women for decades.  Women didn’t speak up because they’re supposed to trust their doctors.   Even if something felt “off,” she often chalked that feeling up to the doctor knowing what he’s doing.  But all along, these doctors misused their trust.

How sad to fear that sharing what happened to you would backfire. Fear of being blamed and even being subjected to scrutiny and degradation about being raped or assaulted was real.

Although civil litigation existed, most law firms did not really know how to relate to women.  And women who had been harmed in some way didn’t always understand how or when to use legal action to protect themselves and their families.  Women were not encouraged to reach out to a law firm.  Men did that!  So, too many of them stayed quiet and suffered in silence.  Fortunately, a mother and daughter team who cared about these women who were harmed disproportionately introduced them to the “how to” and benefits of civil litigation.  A Case for Women was formed ten years ago to connect women to legal action.

A Case for Women empowers women who have been harmed by prescription drugs (such as birth control pills), medical devices, sexual harassment, sexual assault, institutional abuse, talcum powder, and more, by compassionately listening to their stories, finding the right law firm for them, and gently walking them through the civil litigation process. This process will not cost them a dime as the law firms only work on a contingency basis.  The end result of filing that lawsuit will hopefully hurt the entity responsible where it hurts the most:  their bottom line.

SO TIMES ARE CHANGING!  Women are powerful!  Women are resilient!  Women roar!  Women have joined together — there really is strength in numbers — and with A Case for Women’s encouragement, spoken up, faced the predators and the institutions who allowed the insidious behavior to continue, and filed civil lawsuits to hold those responsible accountable.  Joining together has made them POWERFUL – not that they weren’t already in many areas – and NOT AFRAID and NOT SILENT.  The brave women realized that filing a lawsuit is not as intimidating as they thought and, most importantly, could help someone else to not have to go through what they did.

A few examples of courageous women coming together and filing suit after speaking with A Case for Women are:

There are now laws in place to discourage sexual predators in sports, the workplace, and the classroom.  The Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017, made public law in 2018, to prevent the sexual abuse of minors and amateur athletes by requiring the prompt reporting of sexual abuse to law enforcement authorities, and for other purposes; the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces laws that make discrimination illegal in the workplace. The commission oversees all types of work situations including hiring, firing, promotions, harassment, training, wages, and benefits; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance.

Women who TAKE BACK THEIR POWER can heal and become whole again. In turn, more women are encouraged to come forward and talk about what happened to them.  It’s a win-win situation.

Cash settlements can help, too.