Coming out: I'm a survivor of sexual violence

[Recursion]

I would say I'm surprised at dickhead's comments, but I'm not. I'm just sad. This isn't surprising or an epiphany. Women have it worse than I do (I'm male) and they have to deal with the direct judgment we're hearing today; I could "pass" against this misogynistic bullshit and sometimes for my sanity I just do (God forgive me; we all do what we have to).

Friends, there's nobody who is going to look out for us but each other, and there's really nothing to do but drive this shit back when we find it. If you're triggering like I am from this comment (and, yes, I am) there are resources. I don't know all the resources available to the much more numerous female survivors of sexual violence but for my fellow males (and, let's not forget, it's 1/6th of us) if this is getting to you like it is to me please do look at malesurvivor.org. I'm sure there are some DU women who can give some resources in this thread to women who are having the same vomiting and diarrhea I am from those comments.

Anyways: a bit of vulnerability is probably a good thing. We're on the same side here, DU'ers, and we've at least seen what we're against. I love you guys, and it's probably going to get worse before it gets better. Take care, all.

[handmade34]

1. thanks

[NYC_SKP]

2. K/R.

"We're on the same side here, DU'ers"

[JaneyVee]

3. Great courageous post. Stay strong. Also,

There's http://www.rainn.org/ is a great resource as well.

[Recursion]

9. Yes! That is a good one, for survivors of either sex

Thank you, JaneyVee!

[JaneyVee]

13. Thank you for sharing your story with us all. I put up RAINN because there is a 24/7 hotline for

moments of triggering. Hope all is well.

[Raster]

4. K&R!

Thank you!

[seabeyond]

5. love ya.... thank you

and

there is so much wrong in this.

and then to have a purposely offensive post on GD just for the guys to play, lets us know our place.

i am sorry for your pain.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. Thank you for coming out, my dear Recursion...

I'm so sorry you endured the unendurable.

We love you too.........always.

[Hydra]

7. Good on you for coming out

You're part of the invisible group of the invisible group.

Stay strong- the fact that he spoke the ugly truth about his voting block has already changed a lot of minds, and shined an unwanted light on the people who support rape and other barbaric behavior.

[Recursion]

8. The next time someone denies the existence of "rape culture"...

...I want to send them a screenshot of my browser these past 3 days.

[freshwest]

10. Thank you, Recursion. We love your heart and spirit here.

[Hydra]

14. Ya...all sorts of nasty things lurking beneath the surface

Being what I consider a mostly "civilized" human...I find what our culture cultivating to be quite disturbing.

[LadyHawkAZ]

11. I rarely trigger from this stuff

I just get frikkin furious, which I am doing in spades. How dare this ignorant ass slut-shame rape victims. Seriously how DARE he?

I'm sorry for you and others who do trigger off remarks like these. It adds an extra bit of flame to my general fury.

[nc4bo]

12. (hugs) and luv ya right back!

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. May I offer more a very empathic

Thank you and I wish this never happened to you, or any other victim of sexual violence.

[flying_wahini]

16. chin up - those comments from Repugs are from people who are STUPID and....

Todd Akin just made it easier for the on-the-fence Republicans to say

I'm voting for Obama or I'm staying home.

[secondwind]

17. Oh my god, I love your post.. I'm 65 yr old woman and am crying like a baby. God Bless you!!!!

[LiberalLoner]

18. thank you

[nolabear]

19. Thank you for coming out to help others, Recursion.

You're right. All we have is one another, those who have been through this horrible violation and those who haven't but care about women and vow to be there, through thick and thin, for one another.

[GreenPartyVoter]

20. I'm so sorry that this has been a trigger for you. *hugs* Thank you for

speaking up and giving other men a link to refer to. I am sure many men don't even realize that it was out there for them

[geardaddy]

21. That is a great site. n/t

[whathehell]

22. Thanks, Recursion...You're courage is much admired. n/t

[Rozlee]

23. I just finish having an argument about this with someone

on the Nation comment board who made a broadside that women were the sole victims of rape. And I'm not sure that you're right, that women (and children) have it harder than men when rape occurs. Malesurvivor.org and other organizations mentioned are great, but family, friends and acquaintances that often gather to give solace to a woman victim often either don't know how to treat an adult male victim (I don't know if this happened when you were an adult) or, worse, minimize his suffering, especially in the rare cases when the assailant is a woman. Many people don't even believe in cases of women raping men. Is law enforcement any help? I know that they take cases of women and children being sexually assaulted very seriously. Do they treat males with any more compassion than females (which to say isn't often that much)?

[Recursion]

24. Anecdote is just that; my survival is my story

All I know is that women are more likely than men to be survivors of sexual violence, but I honestly don't know what resources are there for them, so I'm hoping another DU'er can point to them.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

25. Thank you.

[qb]

26. K&R - for survivors near MN, the Twin Cities Men's Center has a support group.

http://www.tcmc.org/