'Beyond Rape'

On Oct. 27, 1984, a headline on Page 14A in The Plain Dealer read: "Disgusted judge gives repeat offender 30 years for rape."

The story followed standard newspaper protocol: In it, the victim was anonymous.

In this version, the victim has a name. I am Joanna Connors, and I am telling the story I kept private for 23 years. I'm doing it for all of the others who have survived sexual assault in silence, ashamed and afraid to tell their stories.

The moving story of Plain Dealer theater critic Joanna Connors, raped on a deserted stage in Case Western's Eldred Theater in 1984, as well as the story of her recovery and healing. The article, perhaps for legal reasons, ends with a discussion of how "safe" the Case Western campus ostentsibly is now—but this hit home for me so strongly precisely because an acquaintance of mine was attacked in a public space while we were there, too, and as far as I know the rapist was never caught.

I just know too many women who can tell some version of this story.

Via MeFi.