I was called slut & “cave woman” since the guy who pulled me across the tracks by my hair said, “Just like a cave woman.”

I just want to thank you for what you are doing. I am 53 & when I was in 7th grade & 12 years old, I was dragged across the tracks by my hair by a boy I liked. There were 3 of them & I was forced to give them oral sex. I still played with Barbie dolls, didn’t know guys had penises, let alone that sexual act. We lived in a small town & by Monday in school it had spread like wildfire, with the omission of it being a forced act. I, like you, lost life-long friends, nobody talked to me & I was called slut, whore, BJ giver, the whole gamut of these names  & “cave woman” since the guy who pulled me across the tracks by my hair said, “Just like a cave woman.” In a funny way, some kids thought that nickname came from my looks because I had frizzy hair back then.  Unlike you, it stuck all through high school, so for 5 years I endured hell & torture. No friends, no dance or prom dates, no involvement in extra curricular activities. I cut school a lot & when I was there I was stoned on pot most of the time. I always wondered how my life would have been different if I had a chance at school and giving it my 100%. Despite all the cutting of classes & lack of attention while I was there I still graduated w/a “C” average & 2 years in a row won awards over all South Jersey in the DECA program I was in. My Jr. years I won 2nd place for display & my Sr. year I won honorable mention for advertising.  But after graduation I was just glad to be out of there & spent the next decade being a junkie, no college, no hopes of a career. I, like you & Audrie, never told my parents about what happened. I carried the shame, thinking it was my fault since a couple weeks before I had had my first ever make out session w/the boy I liked. The one thing I  would want bullies to know, especially when it comes to sexual assaults, for me, like you, I endured  it  from the time I got on the bus in the morning, all day at school & on the bus ride home. I couldn’t even walk down the street w/out being harassed. And every time I was called a name, or bullied, I lived the attack over again. So for me, it was like 5 years of the movie Groundhog Day. 41 years later & I still cry, like now, tears are streaming down my face. I have talked w/my classmates on FaceBook, etc., & some don’t remember the torture I endured by them. Their lives went on, but for me, it’s burned into my soul. I can truthfully say, what they did to me has impacted all my relationships, w/ guys as well as making & trusting people as friends. I can’t even imagine what it would have been like if social media was available like it is today. – Patti Marshall