Dear Future President,

I will never forget the way my friend told me she was raped. Her voice was quiet, her hands were fidgeting, and her eyes staring at the floor. Not only that but the fact that she is in my grade, in my classes, is what shocked me. That could have been me. No, scratch that, it could STILL be me. The fact is one in every six american women has had an attempted or completed rape. ONE in every SIX. I cannot stress this enough Future President. Young girls and women are being hurt. Not just physically but mentally.

 Many victims are left with feelings of low self worth. Rape victims are 13 times more likely to commit suicide. They are more likely to self harm using methods like cutting, and four out of five victims suffer from psychological conditions.  Many victims are scared to tell someone they were raped. In fact only 50% of high school rapes are reported. They may be just numbers but think about it, those numbers are real, breathing people. And while you're off trying to decide about what you are going to do about ISIS or how to handle the nation economy, some little girl is being raped. Forced against her will to have sexual intercourse. By tomorrow morning she might have cried herself to sleep, told a friend, or committed suicide. You will never know till you ask, till you listen to their stories. 

But by the time you read this some of them might be dead. Gone forever. But it was never their fault, yet people blame them everyday asking things like "What were you wearing?" or "Did you drink?" 

Implying that they wanted this to happen to them. 

Like they wanted to be assaulted.

So now I ask you Future President, how will you fix our great nation? Will you add a new program to all schools teaching students about relationships, consent, and abuse? Or will you brush it off to the side, deal with it later?

But hey, what do I know? I'm just a 14 year old girl sitting behind her computer, violently typing away, as tears role down her cheeks.

Respectfully,

Priya

https://www.rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-violence

http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/problems/self-harm.asp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=029ahSNog8M

http://www.mercurynews.com/2015/04/03/san-jose-boys-apologize-in-wrongful-death-lawsuit-settlement-over-girls-suicide/

http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/articles/2014/11/14/by-the-numbers-sexualviolenceinhighschool.html

https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-sexual-assault

http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/problems/self-harm.asp

https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-suicide