?- is there a woman here at DU who has not experienced sexual violence?

[polly7]

109. raped and beaten, then again ....

and again in different circumstances. But, I grew up and finally decided life was more than fearing the next thing I said would be the killer, literally. Now, I help with youth groups and volunteer at women's shelters as well as try to instill confidence and what not to put up with with the young females in my family and group. I coach girls hockey and ball and every practice includes our 'talks' that are mostly disguised as just chats, but I try to learn what they are thinking of about many things - themselves, their confidence levels, bullying, boys ... attitudes towards what they're bombarded with daily. These conversations take some pretty strange twists, but I'm surprised at how much smarter these girls are than I was at that age. I don't know the answer, but I believe education, above all, will do the most to help young girls develop a sense of self and set boundaries and when aimed at boys ... re-inforce the idea that sexual assault of any kind is wrong .... in every case. The numbers on this thread are sad.