event review

Back in September my lacrosse team had to attend a mandated public speaker that was coming. All we were told was that she was going to speak about sexual assault. I figured that it would be the same old thing, someone standing up on a stage shouting out statistics and helpful phone numbers. I did not expect to be able to remember her talk still so vividly months later. Brenda Tracy told a story that I do not think I will ever forget.

Brenda spoke to a full auditorium of student-athletes, both men and women; however, I wish that everyone could have heard her story. She told a powerful, heart-breaking, and inspirational story of the time that she was drugged and gang-raped by 3 football players while visiting a friend at her university. After attempting to report her assault to the police, Brenda Tracy was told that she should not press charges and that she would not even have a shot at a fair trial. The rape took over her life and pushed her into a sever depression.

She revealed to us at the very end that she was lied to. The police had taped confessions from all three of her rapists, yet they lied and claimed there was no evidence. They convinced her not to pursue a trial because it would have been bad publicity for the football team and the team had an opportunity to have a new stadium built for them. The value of a football stadium was put above a woman's life, and that is something that I cannot believe.

Rape and sexual assault are disgusting crimes, but the way that they have been socialized are nearly just as disgusting. Women who are victims of these aren't treated like victims, they are an annoyance. Not only are they not taken seriously, but they are treated horribly. They do not deserve the shame that they are given.

Brenda Tracy's story of how she came back from such an unbelievably horrible experience was powerful. Her strength is something that I will never forget

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