Elhajjmoussa 1

Linda Elhajjmoussa

Professor Hellmers

English Comp. 2

22 March 2019

Sexual Assault

“The way he grabbed me.”

“I woke up and didn’t know what happened.”

“I can still feel him…when I wake up…when I’m walking…sleeping…no matter what I do

he is just…there.”

Sexual assault is something that has become so common in our world today. I never

thought that in my lifetime I would hear so many cases of sexual assault not only from the news

and social media, but from my closest friends. Most people stay up late worried about a test

they have the next day, or work, or partying, or even taking care of their own kids, just as it

should be. Although, that is not the case for some people. For some people it doesn’t matter

whether it is daylight or nighttime because mentally, they are constantly living a nightmare.

Hearing the mind-numbing details of what has happened to my friends makes my heart

feel like someone is performing open-heart surgery and I can feel every laceration. Last I

checked there is approximately 321,500 rapes a year just in the U.S alone. To make it more

visual, that is nearly 1 out of every 6 women to be a victim of attempted or complete rape in

some point in her lifetime. What gets me the most is that there is no cure for this. Anyone can

be a victim of sexual assault and there is no way to cure the mind of someone who is.
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My feelings towards this topic are one’s that I take very seriously. I did not choose this

topic as just something to write about but instead, it has become a surrounding in my life.

There are too many words and emotions that partake in this one topic but if I am to just choose

one, I’d say, disgust. I have already done research on this topic prior to this assignment because

I wanted to know everything I could. I feel more curious than ever to see the affects it has on

other women and men out there. I believe this topic is something that needs to be talked about

more because no one will ever know the true affects it has on someone until they experience it

first-hand. My hope is that no one ever goes through something like this in their lifetime. I

know a lot about this topic in particular not only from my own research, but the first-hand

experiences my friends have expressed to me.

No matter how much I research this, there will always be a new case, a new story, and a

new victim. My goal is to understand not only the victim and what it does to them, but I want

to know why someone would do this. There will be no good answer, but I hope my results do

not come down to someone saying, “I just wanted to.” What affect does this really have on

someone’s mental health? How can any self-respecting person commit such a horrific crime?

There are so many questions I have, and I hope that after more research, my mind can gain a

little peace.