At the age of 9, I lost my virginity to a rapist. He abducted me in the middle of the afternoon, around the corner from my fancy apartment on 80th Street & East End Avenue in Manhattan. Stepping in front of me as I was just about to reach the safety of my doorman’s line of sight, he towered over me and told me he was a police officer. He said he needed my help finding an old lady’s dog. In the same moment that my gut told me to run, he deliberately took my small hand and lead me across the street to the basement pictured here. Three years ago, I took this picture; returning to the scene of the crime committed against me.
It took me 40 years to muster up the courage to confront this space, to see again for myself where I’d been violated. The next step of my recovery will be to visit R.A.I.N.N. (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) next week in D.C. to sign up for the recovery cause. This organization reports that 44% of victims are under the age of 18, that 60% of sexual assaults are not reported to police and that 15 out 16 rapists will never spend a day in jail. These statistics tell me that there are a lot of people out there just like me and so, I will tell my story now and keep you informed until they are able to speak about their own rape experience. NEWYORICANGIRL
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