Brenda Tracy, Rape Survivor, Shared Her Story With Texas A&M Athletes and Staff
Thank you @brendatracy24 for sharing your Powerful story to our Student-Athletes! #PowerOfKnowledge 👍🏽 pic.twitter.com/ubmzBQyyKG
— Jason Calanog (@jasoncalanog) January 24, 2017
What Can Be Done to Help?
After all of her experiences, Tracy said the most important way to help address issues of sexual and domestic violence is to get men involved.
“Women have been doing this work for a long time,” she said. “If women could fix sexual assault and domestic violence on our own we would have already done it. The answer is men and women aligning together and becoming allies in this fight. Its not just about a perpetrator and a victim, its about everyone around them. This is a problem for all of us and its going to take all of us.”
Its not just about a perpetrator and a victim, its about everyone around them. This is a problem for all of us and its going to take all of us.
To highlight the point, Tracy shared her perspective with numbers.
“Ninety-eight percent of all rape is committed by men against other men, women and children, but its only committed by 10% of the male population,” Tracy said. “How do we empower, engage and get the other 90% of the good men to stand up and be louder than the 10%?”
Where Can We Start?
The solution, she said, often is as simple as awareness and accountability.
“A lot of times when I talk with young men, the attitude sometimes is ‘Well, I’m not a rapist, I don’t hit women, this isn’t my problem.’,” she explained. “You’re one of the good men, so you can hold other men accountable. You can say, “You know what, that’s not okay.”
“This violence affects everyone, whether you know it or not, you know someone who has been the victim of domestic violence or sexual assault.”
When asked about sharing her story with people she has never met she admitted that it is still initially awkward and uncomfortable.
“Its very difficult for me every time,” Tracy said. “That never gets easier. I feel embarrassed when I share these details with someone I don’t know, but being able to then talk about coming forward with my story and the feedback I get and the changes I see happen. It becomes about triumph over tragedy.”