By: Anonymous
I was sexually assaulted and I am not writing #MeToo on Facebook. I think this is a powerful movement for many survivors, and I have nothing against the campaign, but for me personally, I would not feel better about it to post. And that’s perfectly okay. I rarely interact with most of my “friends” on Facebook in person and I don’t want them to know a very personal detail about my life. I do find it very shocking to see how many of my Facebook friends have been assaulted and am glad they have a way to share their stories that empower them. I think this creates a great way to demonstrate that people are not alone in these situations. It is almost like a virtual support system.
Throughout the week I have seen posts from people saying they were hesitant to post before, but after seeing support from others, decided to tell all or some of their story. I would prefer to be a support system for someone without having people necessarily know my story. I am also friends on Facebook with family members and family members of my friends and I would prefer they did not know. I am not ashamed of what happened, although, I will admit there are some weaker times when I look back on it and think that it was my fault, even though it was not.
There is also hesitation stemming from my concern whether people would believe me. I do not need virtual strangers questioning my “#metoo” status or wondering what exactly happened and if it “qualifies” for the status. In reality, if someone is assaulted, it is only the opinion of the survivor that should dictate if it was assault, not society. There is no level of harassment that must meet a standard for this status.
While reading this article you may be wondering why I wrote it, since it is a contradiction to almost everything I have previously stated. I realize this article will be published and have my name attached, meaning anyone will be able to read it and know personal details about my life. To me, this has a different purpose. It is a way of saying to other survivors it is okay to not voice the “#metoo” on Facebook. It does not make you weak. I believe that having a real name attached to the article makes it more relatable and is why I chose to not write this anonymously.
I hope this article has helped some survivors be okay with not posting also and has clarified to others why someone would not post from the perspective of someone that did not.