"Every 2 minutes, someone in the United States is sexually assaulted.”

My daddy taught me
that I was more than the sum
of the parts between my legs.
He taught me that I
had a heart that beat blood
and some gray matter
called a brain.
He taught me the definition
of the word ‘no’
and how to best hit someone
and break their face
before they could try and break me.

“44% of victims are under the age of 18,
while 80% are under the age of 30.”

You could say I grew up sheltered,
and you would be half-right
because my parents tried their hardest
to keep my eyes innocent
to the uglier parts of life.

But when I was 13,
I held Jewel as she cried and told me
how sometimes her mother’s husband
came into her bedroom at night,
no matter how many times
she said stop.
And she told me how eventually,
she stopped saying anything at all.

“1 in 5 American girls and1 in 20 boyswill be sexually abused during childhood.

I was at a church when I was 15
and Tori told me how her boyfriend
raped her in the field
behind her school.

She told me how three other people knew
but refused to say a word because
“They were bound to do it sometime,
anyway.”

Tori was stronger than anyone
I have ever met
the day she decided to report her assault.
The trial was in May
and in another 73 days,
he will be released from juvenile detention
because he will be considered
rehabilitated.

“2/3 rapes are committed by a person the victim knows.
43% of juveniles know their attacker.”

Dineane faced her attacker
every day in school
and did not cry
even as his friends told her
she had it coming.

At least, not until we were alone
and through her tears she begged
me to tell her
if she was really such a whore

“More than 50% of all reported rapes happen within 1 mile of the victim’s home.
4/10 take place within the victim’s resident.”

The University of Alaska Anchorage
has a well-known ‘rape trail’
and they are far from the only college
with such a locale.

Its my too-trusting nature which
makes my daddy worry that I am bound
to be a statistic, no matter
what he has taught me.
Its the stories I tell him about
girls and boys at school
which keep him up at night.
Its the girl whose stepdad
got her pregnant at 14
Which makes him weary of wear I go and who I’m with.

It is the fact that I am 16 and can name at least 4 rape victims which makes him distrust every boy I associate with

“97% of all rapes will go unreported
and only 3/100 rapists will serve a day in jail.”

I should not be afraid
of riding alone with a boy in a car.
I should not be afraid of strangers
on street corners, wondering whether or not
I would be able to outrun them if I
had to.

I should not have to worry about
the make up I
put on my face sending the wrong message,
or think about whether or not
the length of my skirt is going to
make a boy think I am his for the taking.

because no matter the amount of eyeliner someone layers on or the amount of leg they let hang out,
no still means no and silence
does not mean yes.

and no matter what excuse anyone will hand out to explain why what happens, happens,
boys will not be boys and girls are not just being silly.

These excuses will only ever fall through because we are all more
than the sum of the parts between our legs.