Rape

My name is Alice. I am your friend, your next door neighbor, your babysitter. I am a sister, and I am a daughter. I am just like any of you, and I was raped 64 times. My story is not unlike many others, and although it may appear simple, it is complex with various intricate, nearly unfathomable occurrences. My parents divorced when I was five, and that in of itself was enough to make me feel as if the entire world was crashing down around me. I couldn't stand the life I was living: the cheerleading, every other weekend at dad's house, and all of the expectations I was forced to live up to. Low self-esteem, ridiculous amounts of self-loathing, and catastrophic emotional problems: I wasn't much unlike many other girls in my junior class. These characteristics made me vulnerable amongst the crowd: when an abuser discovers an individual with peculiar and various flaws and confidence drawbacks, they are more likely to be attracted to them. I dated the boy I was raped by for a year. He completed the basic abuse cycle: the tension would increase within the relationship over minuscule disagreements, and it would eventually lead to him forcing himself upon me. Afterwards, when I would threaten to leave or report him, the way I dressed, the way I acted, and who I was was all used against me so I would not report. He told me that no one would believe me if I left, and how no man would ever want me because I just wasn't good enough. I believed him, and I would lie amongst the floor and sob until he eventually calmed down and coated me with apologies. Then it would begin all over again. Everyone with the number 4, stand up. Each of you standing will be raped; statistics show that one in six will be sexually assaulted within their life time. According to the U.S Bureau of Justice Statistics, one of you will be a male (as shown by ___)*: 9% of rape victims are male, while the other 91% remain female. And every two minutes, another person is assaulted; not