We Believe You

"Me too. It happened to me too." More than one in five women and 5 percent of men are sexually assaulted while at college. Some survivors are coming forward; others are not. In We Believe You, students from every kind of college and university-large and small, public and private, highly selective and less so-share experiences of trauma, healing, and everyday activism, representing a diversity of races, economic and family backgrounds, gender identities, immigration statuses, interests, capacities, and loves. Theirs is a bold, irrefutable sampling of voices and stories that should speak to all.

Introduction 1I-BeforeOur Stories-Elise Siemering, Lauren, Andrew Brown, Anonymous S, Aysha Ives, Anonymous V, Fabiana Diaz, Anonymous XY 7 From "The Elegy of I"-Sari Rachel Forshner 18 I'm Going to College-Andrea Pino 20 Colleges 26II-How It HappenedOur Stories, continued 35 The Attacker: A Chorus 44 Assaulted by Strangers, Twice-Zoë Rayor 54 Dear Abuelita-Andrea Pino 61 I Startle Easily-Anonymous A 64 Star Wars-Johanna Evans 69 Blackout-Abbi Gatewood 71 Gang Rape at Oregon State-Brenda Tracy 72 A Letter to My Daughter-Anonymous K 74 Right After 78III-Trauma and BetrayalOur Stories, continued 85 Friends: A Chorus 102 The Surprising Bravery of Others-Anonymous V 103 Code Switch-A. Zhou 106 Parents: A Chorus 112 Rape Culture: A Chorus 114 From "The Elegy of I"-Sari Rachel Forshner 115 Tennis Was My Life-Elly Fryberger 117 People You May Know-Kevin Kantor 123 The Punishments: A Chorus 128 Betrayals-Andrea Pino 130 Untouchable: Being a Trans Survivor-Princess Harmony 133 The Dangerous Myth of the "Ideal" Survivor-Princess Harmony 138 Anger: A Chorus 141 Unaccepted Students Day-A. Lea Roth and Nastassja Schmiedt 142IV-Healing and Everyday ActivismOur Stories, continued 160 My Dog, My Best Friend-Zoë Rayor 186 Our First Conversation-Annie Clark and Andrea Pino 188 Speak Out-Julia D. 191 If It Happens to You: A Chorus 197 Accepting Entropy: How My Dad Used the Second Law of Thermodynamics to Teach Me How to Survive-Liz Weiderhold 199 Again-Regina Gonzalez-Arroyo 202 Relationships After: A Chorus 204 Olivia Benson Believes Me-Anonymous H 206 The After-Sari Rachel Forshner 210 Slowly, You Start Forgetting-Anonymous V 214 f(Survival): A Function of Survival-Aditi 216 I Believe Myself: On Creativity and Healing-A. Lea Roth and Nastassja Schmiedt 223 My Own Lingerie-Abbi Gatewood 226 "Lux Libertas"-Andrea Pino 228 Women's Studies Built Me-Stephanie Canales 231 The Teal Forks Timeline-Fabiana Diaz 237 Then Came Activism: A Chorus 242 The Professor: Some Notes on My Experience-Katie Rose Guest Pryal 245 Songs for Survival: A Playlist-A. Lea Roth and Nastassja Schmiedt 256 I Am a Phoenix-Brenda Tracy 258V-Declarations of IndependenceStatement from the Artist on Doing a Self-portrait About Rape-Chloe Allred 277 Tattoos-Annie Clark 280 Reclaiming College-Lilly Jay 282 School After: A Chorus 284 Dear Harvard: This Fight Is Not Over-Ariane Litalien 287 An Important Event-Sofie Karasek 292 I Write On-Annie Clark 296 I Have Been Told That My Skin Is Exceptionally Smooth-Regina Gonzalez-Arroyo 304 Dear Emily Yoffe-Kamilah Willingham 310 How to Become an Activist-Annie Clark and Andrea Pino 322Rights and ResourcesHelp 101: What to Do Immediately After Experiencing Violence 327 Resources: Our Top Picks 329 "Why Didn't You Go to the Police?"-Annie Clark 333 Title IX 335 Campus Sexual Assault Victims' Bill of Rights 336 A Note on Representation-Andrea Pino 337 Glossary 340Our Fuller Dedication 346 Acknowledgments 349