As I packed my bags for the Virginia Festival of the Book last week, I thought about Hannah Graham. The pretty, freckled 18-year-old University of Virginia student was abducted and murdered last September. Graham has been on my mind since I first heard she was missing, so I wanted to Read more…
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — I was alone for three minutes and thirty-six seconds today before someone else came along. That, ladies, is more than long enough to be raped. I was walking beneath South High Street, making my way along the rail-trail toward the Pleasant Street bridge, where one of two Read more…
That just about says it all. But it certainly doesn’t tell the backstory. I think I’ve been speaking in public since I was about ten. Rarely do I get nervous. My TED talk was different. Maybe that’s because you know the status given to TED talks. Okay, so this wasn’t Read more…
It isn’t going to be easy and every day will be a struggle. Maybe not a physical fight to survive but certainly a psychological one. Some days you will do battle just to be happy. From time to time you will even look back and think dying would have been easier. Read more…
Ohio isn’t the only place full of stunned people today. The world joins them after learning that three missing girls—each gone for about 10 years—were found alive in a Cleveland neighborhood Monday. Before I outline why we’re so happy and simultaneously repelled, let me just say this to the three girls Read more…
As the Steubenville Trial taking place less than two hours from my home winds up today or tomorrow, I’m in Hawai’i preparing for my upcoming speech. At this conference, held by the Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma, I’ll talk about the factors that led me to become a rape Read more…
Although the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse trial “will, for a brief moment capture the attention of the eyes of the world,” according to Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly, there are bigger stakes to be had. The foremost stake is the fear of child sex abuse victims themselves, that no one Read more…
At least eight young men and children everywhere slept easier last night, knowing that a clarion call has gone out following the verdict in the historic sex abuse trial of Jerry Sandusky. Found guilty of 45 out of 48 counts of the criminal carges Judge John Cleland told the jury Read more…
When Jerry Sandusky waived his right to a preliminary hearing last Tuesday, I could only think of one good reason: plea deal. Which is one of the worst things that can happen to a case like this. It’s also one of the best. Before I tell you what that is, Read more…
If you happen to be in Bellefonte, Pa., today to show support for the Penn State victims–or for Gerald Sandusky’s preliminary hearing–and you see a blonde woman carting a satchel of books, it’s me. I’m not lukewarm, but am either hot or cold: sometimes I take days or weeks to Read more…