Are We Ready for Truth and Reconciliation Around Sexual Violence? #MeToo

December 18th, 2017

By Lissa Rankin

Guest writer for Wake Up World

A teenage Icelandic woman is raped by her Australian boyfriend after she’s had too much to drink. In his own immature, conditioned teenage mind, he doesn’t call it rape. Because the media and pornography and the way fathers raise sons and bro’s egg on bro’s, he convinces himself that he was justified in taking what was rightfully his — her body, her vulnerability, her sexuality, maybe even her physical and mental health. She is traumatized by the experience, and in his own way, he is too. Her life unravels, and so does his.

We know the story. Almost every woman I’m close to has been raped, molested, or sexually harassed. (You can read my #MeToo story here.) But the horrific story of this young woman and the man who raped her has a different ending, mostly because these two refused to simplify their story into a cut and dried duality of victim/monster. They were brave enough to see the humanity in each other and then to write a book about it and give a TED talk together.

What touches me most in this TED talk by Thordis Elva and Tom Stranger is at about the 13-minute mark, when Thordis Elva points out that whenever someone accuses another of a sexual crime, words inevitably get in the way.

CONTINUE READING:

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• Are You “Spiritual But Not Religious?”
• 9 Practical Tips to Help You Find Your Calling
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• 10 Surprising Things That Trigger “Fight-Or-Flight”
• Medical Error is Still the #3 Cause of Death in the U.S. – Are We Really Okay With This?

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