It was an incident in her teen years that she and her parents never talked about. It was something she tried to forget; they all tried to forget it.<\/p>\n
More than a decade later, it happened again. She was a single mother of two children by then and initially didn\u2019t plan to report the crime.<\/p>\n
Not long after the second incident, Lindsay discovered she wasn\u2019t alone. She was among 18 women who had come forward as victims of a serial predator, a firefighter and a well-respected member of the community.<\/p>\n
Lindsay shared her personal story of rape and challenged common misconceptions about rape and rape victims during a special CLP event this month attended by about 200 Furman students.<\/p>\n
The discussion, \u201cCampus Culture, Rape Culture: A Survivor and an Advocate,\u201d was hosted by Furman\u2019s Women\u2019s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Minor in recognition of Women\u2019s History Month, International Women\u2019s Day and global gendered violence. Furman\u2019s Title IX and ADA Coordinator Melissa Nichols and history professor Savita Nair, Ph.D., co-chair of the Women\u2019s, Gender and Sexualities minor, facilitated the event, designed to focus on a personal, local narrative and on advocacy.<\/p>\n
The World Health Organization estimates that 33 percent of women are survivors of sexual violence or intimate partner violence. While Lindsay\u2019s experience did not occur on a campus, her story parallels the most common forms of campus sexual violence, Nair said.<\/p>\n
Lindsay, who volunteers as a victim\u2019s advocate, provided candid feedback to students about red flags for predators and discussed \u201cfight, flight or freeze,\u201d how victims respond in a violent situation. Too often \u201cfreeze\u201d has been forgotten or ignored as an important survival response, Nair said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet rid of all the signs and things you think you should be looking for. Rape doesn\u2019t happen the way it does in the movies,\u201d she said, adding that often people don\u2019t report sexual assaults because the perpetrator is someone they know.<\/p>\n
Lindsay\u2019s rapist was an attractive public servant whom she had \u201cGoogle stalked\u201d to confirm that he was who he said he was. \u201cNot all rapists look like creepy people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She encouraged students to be supportive of any friends who are victims of a sexual assault. \u201cBelieve them,\u201d Lindsay said. \u201cAnd, regardless of how it may seem, reporting (the crime) is the way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Students at Furman have several options for reporting sexual assaults. They can file a report with the University Police, go through the University\u2019s disciplinary process by making a report to a Title IX coordinator, or both, said Nichols.<\/p>\n
Consent is not justified by alcohol consumption, clothing, previous or recent sexual activity, and even having to expressly say the word \u201cno.\u201d \u201cSexual assault is never the victim\u2019s fault,\u201d said Nichols.<\/p>\n