We live in an age where rape culture has become “normal,” and victims are accused of being at fault for whatever happened to them.
In the words of Dan Turner, father of Stanford rapist Brock Turner, the victim of his sexual animosity was merely “20 minutes of action.”
In an article titled “I Didn’t Tell,” public figure Kristina Kuzmic opens up about a time when a man she’d trusted forced himself onto her.
As she explains it, the decision to be open about the subject came around the time a handful of victims accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault. As Kristina remembers it, “the most common question early on wasn’t: ‘How could he do something so horrible?’ Instead, the question people seemed to be asking was: ‘Why should we believe these women when they didn’t bother speaking up right away?’”
Kristina says she believed them.
That’s because, unfortunately, she’s been in their shoes.
About 10 years prior to her writing about her experience, Kristina was enduring one of the toughest times of her life. A mom to two young children — both under the age of three — Kristina had just decided to leave her marriage.
“I hadn’t even moved out yet. I didn’t know where to go or how I’d pay for it.”
It was during this season of “starting over,” that a friend suggested she take an acting class.
“Your college degree is in theater,” she recalls her friend saying. “You never know what types of connections you might build through this class. I know you’re going through a lot right now, but I think it’d be good for you.”
Eventually, she took her advice, and the acting class wound up being an excellent “escape” from the day-to-day stress of stay-at-home, separated-mom life.