Trending on twitter, #WhyIDidntReport, in response to the current barrage of commentary in media, in politics, in general conversation, around why a woman would wait decades to report sexual assault or rape.

The free press and social media have opened the floodgates for all manner of pundit and politico, to pass judgment on how or when an accuser should make an attack known. This, obviously, in relation to the accusation by a college professor against the current nominee for the Supreme Court, regarding a sexual assault alleged to have occurred when they were still in high school.

One of the frequent comments: the decades since the alleged incident, and why so long to report. This pervasive judgment, through ignorance alone, speaks volumes toward why victims struggle. It has also prompted all manner of women, and men, to tweet #WhyIDidntReport. Go; read some of the Twitter thread. Just pick a spot and read a few. These are human beings still struggling to speak, and some are speaking for the first time. It’s moving. It’s haunting. It’s heartbreaking. It’s liberating. It’s empowering.

Why I didn’t report?

1. I was 6. I didn’t know ANYTHING.

2. I was 23, alone in another state, visiting a high school friend. We had been been drinking. By the end of the night, an acquaintance had raped me. Yes, I said no, many times, before I passed out. The next day was my flight home. I told no one, until many years later. The first person I told …  became my next abuser.

3. I was 35, outside the U.S., and sexually assaulted. I came home and said nothing… for years.

To those speaking truth to power, you matter, you inspire…  and I believe you. #WhyIDidntReport #ItStillHappened