Because of this misery with Kavanaugh, many women and girls have spoken out.

Because of this misery with Kavanaugh, many women and girls have spoken out. What led me to this article was a post by a dear friend of mine where she spoke out about her sexual assault and abuse and why she never told anyone or reported it. She said that when she read this article it made her feel that she had to say something, now.

I wish I could share my friend's story with you, because it is horrible, because it should be known, because every single one of these stories should swell into an inexorable wall of undeniability so that no one can ever make excuses ever again for not confronting this, for not changing this.

I can't share my friend's story, but I can share the article that moved her to tell it.

Now, 32 years after my rape, I am stating publicly what happened. I have nothing to gain by talking about this. But we all have a lot to lose if we put a time limit on telling the truth about sexual assault and if we hold on to the codes of silence that for generations have allowed men to hurt women with impunity.

One in four girls and one in six boys today will be sexually abused before the age of 18. I am speaking now because I want us all to fight so that our daughters never know this fear and shame and our sons know that girls’ bodies do not exist for their pleasure and that abuse has grave consequences.

Those messages should be very clear as we consider whom we appoint to make decisions on the highest court of our land.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/25/opinion/padma-lakshmi-sexual-assault-rape.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/25/opinion/padma-lakshmi-sexual-assault-rape.html