He Said I’d Never
Work.
Succeed.
Play a Sport.
Be Famous.
Make a Living Again.
Have a Career.
He. Was. Wrong.
Even if you could have said the word “no,” it was a question between you and your survival – your job, your next paycheck, your future.
When an authority figure you know and trust (a boss, your counselor, your youth group leader, your doctor) suddenly comes onto you with a particular determination, most women become paralyzed, overcome with shock and fear.
Just because you didn’t say “no” doesn’t make you complicit.
What happened is not your fault; it is the fault of the institution you trusted to protect you.
If you wound up in a situation of imbalanced power where you couldn’t say no to a threatening authority, you can have your power back by taking part in civil litigation prosecuting the institution that wasn’t paying attention.
It’s what we do at A Case for Women. We’ve worked with thousands of survivors of sexual assault: spas, universities, amateur and professional sports teams, summer camps, rideshare companies, you name it. What you can do now is take part in civil litigation to hold the powerful accountable. Of the thousands of women we’ve helped, not one has ever regretted coming to us and taking legal action.
