Elizabeth Smart says she was sexually assaulted on flight

[AtheistCrusader]

20. I have a really depressing story from work.

We had a female contractor helping with a project, and we'd been sitting in the same cubicle side by side for about an hour working on training documentation for the users. At one point I said 'excuse me, I need to reach over there' and pointed at a document on the other side of the desk, on her left, because I'm EXTREMELY conscious of personal space, react badly when people violate mine, and never intrude on other's.

She laughed.

'You're all so polite here' and chuckled. Then she stopped laughing, her face got very... blank... and said 'Once you've had someone grab your hair and bend you over a desk....' and trailed off.

I have never seen such behavior, and I had never before spoken face to face with someone who was a victim of it, but that conversation will fucking haunt me. Having been raped at one point in her life led her to view physical contact very differently than I do, and she had, as best as I can tell, completely surrendered the idea that she owned her own personal space as a result. As a guy, it's not a fear I've ever carried with me or truly understood. Now that I've had that personal exchange of knowledge, and seen how it changed the victim, it makes me simultaneously horrified, and enraged.

If I ever see a guy do that shit, I'm going to break his arm with no warning. Then I'm going to testify in court for the victim.