Time to speak out on sexual assault

If you follow any of the news in the U.S.A., you may have heard these names - Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby and Bill O’Reilly. These are the names of three very powerful men who assaulted many women over the years, then kept them quiet by any means possible.

However women are speaking out and these men are being sued and charged. There are many strong and courageous women who have spoken out publicly and written books about their experiences, have sued and even pressed charges against the men who assaulted them.

There is a growing movement that women are fed up and will not take any more of these assaults. One very good suggestion is that women create an underground group of support wherever you are, at work, in a community or in any group situation. So if one is assaulted, she has the support of a group of women to speak to and to speak out about it. I ask the women of P.E.I. to step up to the plate and speak out.

Statistics show that one third of women experience some form of sexual assault in their lifetime; that is a lot of women on P.E.I. There is no shame in this, the shame lies on the perpetrator.

Stand up and be courageous, speak out and let’s create a change of attitude on the Island so in future, no woman has to experience this alone or be ridiculed when she speaks out.

It is time to speak out.

Anne Gallant, Kensington