This week, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez publicly stated that she is a survivor of sexual violence while recounting her experience during the capitol riots in early January. As a survivor of color, seeing other powerful women publicly sharing their survivor status, and denying the societal shame that is placed on survivors is deeply empowering. Although being met with the reality that so many of us have been violated and assaulted is horrific, every time a person shares about what they faced, our network grows bigger. This is especially true when a person in a position of power shares about their encounters with violence, because it gives more and more people permission to own their stories and recognize what happened to them.
This is what AOC did for many people this week. By opening up about a traumatic event that took place in her life, she spoke to and connected with thousands of people who might feel lost and voiceless because of the situations that they were forced to endure. It’s very hard to be this open in any way, but especially knowing that your story is going to be heard and scrutinized by the nation.
I know from personal experience, how hard it is to share about being assaulted even though I have worked on sharing my story on a smaller scale. When I set out with the mission of founding Survivors to Superheroes, I had the naive notion that publicly sharing about being raped was going to be easy. After all, I understood that it needed to be done so that others might feel less alone. But as Survivors has grown, I have regretted the amount I’ve shared. Often, after I write or talk to a prospective member about what happened to me, I leave feeling uneasy and unsafe. Of course this is no one’s fault but those who assaulted me, but I still feel the shame and fear on a daily basis. I fully understand the sacrifice one must make in order to publicly share about being assaulted, and therefore, I would like to personally thank AOC for sharing her trauma with each and every one one of us.
When I first set out writing a response to this, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had just shared about her experience. My response was going to be fairly straightforward, but then came accusations that she was lying about her experience during the riots. Although, my purpose is to mainly talk about sexual violence, I do believe it is important for me to touch on this topic as well. When claiming that AOC lied or exaggerated, some individuals stated that she made up a story about rioters entering her office. AOC did, however, explain that she initially thought that the police who entered her office were the rioters. Either way, the fear that she experienced in those moments was real.
Trauma survivors often experience fear in extreme ways, and Ocasio-Cortez was actually in a dangerous situation along with all the other lawmakers who were in the capitol at the time. Claiming that AOC fearing for her life was a lie is a perfect example of how victims are constantly shamed, harassed, and blamed, for living through violent, threatening, or scary situations against their will. This happens daily to survivors across the globe, and stops people from coming forward with their stories. Due to the hateful ways in which survivors are treated, sexual violence is one of the most under reported crimes.
Although the critics were not claiming that AOC lied about being sexually assaulted, by denying her story and publicly stating that she lied, they have become complicit in a dangerous pattern that harms survivors across all demographics. The culture of automatically assuming that victims, and particularly in this case, women of color, are lying about the fear and violence that they face must stop Untill this happens, we will not be able to break this cycle, and sexual violence will continue.
Thank you again, AOC, for your vulnerability, and for standing up for yourself. I am truly sorry for everything that you endured, and I hope you know that so many of us believe you and stand by your side. With your help we can and will continue to fight this battle.
