When I was
writing Bartlett’s Rule I drew on a lot of experiences that my friends and I had
growing up. According to statistics from RAINN “One out of every six American
women has been a victim of attempted or completed rape in her lifetime.” My
friends and I definitely knew the reality of that number.
In Bartlett’s
Rule Paige is unable to talk about her experience, she feels shame and doubts
that people will believe her. Even though she has gotten some therapy, it is
hard to get past the guilt of being a victim — this is a very normal reaction
and one which keeps many victims silent. In Bartlett’s Rule my characters learn
that being a “victim” is not the victim’s fault, the story line also shows that
sexual assault is not an act of love or even just healthy sexual desire, it is
a show of force and control.
Recently the
#MeToo movement has helped many women speak out and see that they are far from
alone; it has also allowed some male victims of sexual assault to speak out as
well. While there are many who have stated that “they are just coming out of
the woodwork” there is a modicum of truth; finally victims who have remained
silent all these years are speaking out. Facebook hosted so many comments
containing the simple #MeToo moniker and there were a lot of discussions.
Still there
are people who doubt, people who question about the movement inspiring over
reactions. Some have even complained about being falsely accused of sexual
harassment, people are worried about things that can be conceived in the
workplace as improper, and still others who simply cannot fathom the amount of
people coming forward. It is a difficult topic, too difficult to ignore.
Perhaps one day when folks are more aware of their own actions and words, when
they are more respectful of others’ feelings, and they are less judgmental about
what types of clothing were worn or where someone was walking we may be able to
weed out the over reactions, reduce the incidents of abuse, and help to heal victims
without any shame or guilt.
