Empower people to keep them safe

Everyone seems shocked by the Harvey Weinstein allegations. Why? Sexual harassment and abuse have long been a part of our culture in the entertainment field, business and families.

I keep seeing these “Me too” posts. They don’t surprise me. Throughout the years, so many people have shared their stories with me. In college, I studied this topic and found that 25 percent of women will be assaulted. Some estimates suggest 50 percent of kids are molested. My math suggests that up to 75 percent of our population is victimized at some point, yet everyone seems surprised and outraged by this one story.

It is good we finally are talking. I challenge our society to go forward one more step — empower people to say “my dignity isn’t for sale. No matter how much money or opportunity you hang over my head, no you don’t have access to my body. Yes, if you don’t respect my wishes I will tell everyone and I don’t care if they believe me because I know what is true. That is a reasonable cost for my freedom.”

Tell your children they should tell you everything and no secret is acceptable. Even when perpetrators threaten to harm the people they love or to discredit them, every child should have one person who will protect her or him. Guidance counselors and police officers are safe adults to tell, too.

Even the people we love and trust do bad things sometimes and it is OK to protect ourselves against people we thought we could trust. Let’s teach people how to say no even when there is pressure to cave. There are more tools available to us than Nancy Reagan’s “Just say no” of the ’80s.

Let’s move from a culture that is shocked to a culture that empowers people.

Shaunacy Webster New Albany