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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsVP Biden's open letter to the young woman raped by the swimmer had me in tears.
What a good, good man. He didn't have to do this. But he did.
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/06/you-are-a-warrior-joe-biden-writes-moving-open-letter-in-support-of-stanford-rape-survivor/
Spazito
(50,165 posts)Thanks for posting this, it is a MUST READ, imo.
leftynyc
(26,060 posts)That was a moving letter from somebody for whom violence against women has always been a major issue.
csziggy
(34,131 posts)An Open Letter to a Courageous Young Woman
I do not know your name but your words are forever seared on my soul. Words that should be required reading for men and women of all ages.
Words that I wish with all of my heart you never had to write.
I am in awe of your courage for speaking out for so clearly naming the wrongs that were done to you and so passionately asserting your equal claim to human dignity.
And I am filled with furious anger both that this happened to you and that our culture is still so broken that you were ever put in the position of defending your own worth.
It must have been wrenching to relive what he did to you all over again. But you did it anyway, in the hope that your strength might prevent this crime from happening to someone else. Your bravery is breathtaking.
You are a warrior with a solid steel spine.
I do not know your name but I know that a lot of people failed you that terrible January night and in the months that followed.
Anyone at that party who saw that you were incapacitated yet looked the other way and did not offer assistance. Anyone who dismissed what happened to you as just another crazy night. Anyone who asked what did you expect would happen when you drank that much? or thought you must have brought it on yourself.
You were failed by a culture on our college campuses where one in five women is sexually assaulted year after year after year. A culture that promotes passivity. That encourages young men and women on campuses to simply turn a blind eye.
The statistics on college sexual assault havent gone down in the past two decades. Its obscene, and its a failure that lies at all our feet.
And you were failed by anyone who dared to question this one clear and simple truth: Sex without consent is rape. Period. It is a crime.
I do not know your name but thanks to you, I know that heroes ride bicycles.
Those two men who saw what was happening to you who took it upon themselves to step in they did what they instinctually knew to be right.
They did not say Its none of my business.
They did not worry about the social or safety implications of intervening, or about what their peers might think.
Those two men epitomize what it means to be a responsible bystander.
To do otherwise to see an assault about to take place and do nothing to intervene makes you part of the problem.
Like I tell college students all over this country its on us. All of us.
We all have a responsibility to stop the scourge of violence against women once and for all.
I do not know your name but I see your unconquerable spirit.
I see the limitless potential of an incredibly talented young woman full of possibility. I see the shoulders on which our dreams for the future rest.
I see you.
You will never be defined by what the defendants father callously termed 20 minutes of action.
His son will be.
I join your global chorus of supporters, because we can never say enough to survivors: I believe you. It is not your fault.
What you endured is never, never, never, NEVER a womans fault.
And while the justice system has spoken in your particular case, the nation is not satisfied.
And that is why we will continue to speak out.
We will speak to change the culture on our college campuses a culture that continues to ask the wrong questions: What were you wearing?
Why were you there? What did you say? How much did you drink?
Instead of asking: Why did he think he had license to rape?
We will speak out against those who seek to engage in plausible deniability. Those who know that this is happening, but dont want to get involved. Who believe that this ugly crime is complicated.
We will speak of you you who remain anonymous not only to protect your identity, but because you so eloquently represent every woman.
We will make lighthouses of ourselves, as you did and shine.
Your story has already changed lives.
You have helped change the culture.
You have shaken untold thousands out of the torpor and indifference towards sexual violence that allows this problem to continue.
Your words will help people you have never met and never will.
You have given them the strength they need to fight.
And so, I believe, you will save lives.
I do not know your name but I will never forget you.
The millions who have been touched by your story will never forget you.
And if everyone who shared your letter on social media, or who had a private conversation in their own homes with their daughters and sons, draws upon the passion, the outrage, and the commitment they feel right now the next time there is a choice between intervening and walking away then I believe you will have helped to change the world for the better.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/tomnamako/joe-biden-writes-an-open-letter-to-stanford-survivor?utm_term=.goRmg9waQ#.nsKNQjJE7
nolabear
(41,936 posts)Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)hamsterjill
(15,220 posts)Love me some Joe. He is such a good guy!
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)cyndensco
(1,697 posts)Stuart G
(38,414 posts)lark
(23,065 posts)I have tears in my eyes right now. I hope he's right and that this wakes people up and that they will stand up and stop some of these tragedies.
I hope Brock's nights are filled with nightmares and his day full of people glaring at him and snubbing him. He (and his dad) are awful people who skirted judgement because the judge was a jock at the same school. For shame, Brock and judge!
Geronimoe
(1,539 posts)First the Stanford student who had sex with victim when she was unconscious.
The 2nd rape, mental and psychological, from the judge who's sentencing allowed the rapist to be free after 3 months prison term.
nolabear
(41,936 posts)Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)ailsagirl
(22,885 posts)Thank you, Vice-President Biden
passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)Drinking too much does not excuse your actions. Alcohol just removes your inhibitions so the real 'you' is revealed.
What in our society today is giving our males the idea that they have a right to sex, and a license to rape?
WheelWalker
(8,954 posts)lancer78
(1,495 posts)wants to compromise on Abortion as long as the woman's life is not in danger.
Does this mean that she will NOT include exceptions for rape or incest?
If the radical right had their way, my cousin would have had to carry her rapists baby.
NoMoreRepugs
(9,372 posts)I challenge Republicans to name one of their own who can measure up to him - just one.
I have a pretty strong heart, so despite being almost 67 I have time to wait.............
yardwork
(61,539 posts)Gabi Hayes
(28,795 posts)pee in this sweet punchbowl of approbation, but just dip into "Strange Justice" and refresh your memories about Biden's role in destroying her reputation, caving in to Thomas' managers/repubs and allowing the hearings to stop EXACTLY on the brink of testimony that would not only have forestalled the nomination, but should have garnered Thomas a perjury rap.
jesus
or, more succinctly, this:
Anita Hill, the woman who accused Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment, on Thursday said that as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Vice President Joe Biden did a "terrible job" overseeing Thomas' confirmation hearings in 1991.
Hill said on HuffPost Live that Biden failed to call witnesses and experts to testify who could have shed light on the sexual harassment claims made about Thomas.
I think he did two things that were a disservice to me, that were a disservice more importantly to the public," Hill said. "There were three women who were ready and waiting and and subpoenaed to be giving testimony about similar behavior that they had experienced or witnessed. He failed to call them."
Reacting to Hill's comments, a Biden spokesperson said, "The Vice President continues to wish nothing but the best for Anita Hill."
Watch the interview via HuffPost Live:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/anita-hill-clarence-thomas-biden-hearing
KT2000
(20,568 posts)a beautiful statement for us all.
DinahMoeHum
(21,774 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)What a powerful letter and a kind gesture.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)I have always liked Joe
Dorian Gray
(13,479 posts)You went ahead and made me cry.
Beautiful letter to a beautiful shining survivor of sexual assault.
AwakeAtLast
(14,123 posts)This should be required reading..he GETS IT.