![]() ![]() Together, they are helping reshape the public dialogue by speaking openly about a public health crisis that for generations has been shrouded in secrecy. ![]() The congresswoman and Prout will be among the panelists at the “Voices for Change” event planned for Monday night at University of New Hampshire Law School in Concord. ![]() Kuster told reporters that public stigma surrounding sexual violence has fostered a culture of silence, and that “it’s long past time we shatter that silence.” The task force will focus on issues such as sexual assault education, campus safety, data collection and law enforcement training. Capitol to announce the launch of a new congressional task force to end sexual violence that includes representatives from both sides of the political aisle. Just last week, Kuster and Prout stood beyond the steps of the U.S. That initial conversation laid the foundation for something bigger than maybe either of them realized at the time. Kuster reached out to Prout to say she was impressed with “her eloquence and courage.” Two months into her own awareness campaign, Kuster watched with admiration and respect when Prout bravely shed her anonymity. “Free from sexual assault, free from rape, free from rude, crude, obnoxious, offensive assault on our body, our being, ourselves. “The message we hear and the message the court sent in Stanford is that we are not safe, we are not secure and we do not deserve to be free,” Kuster said from the House floor in June. What had motivated her to go public were the words of a woman whom the world had come to know as “Emily Doe.” The woman was sexually assaulted by Stanford swimmer Brock Turner, who in early 2016 was sentenced to just six months in jail. Two months earlier, Kuster had stood behind the lectern on the House floor to tell the world about the sexual assaults she suffered as a young woman nearly 40 years earlier. Annie Kuster was among the first to do so, tweeting “Incredibly proud of Chessy Prout for bravely sharing her story & letting sexual assault survivors know they are not alone.” Since launching her #IHaveTheRightTo campaign on social media in August, millions of survivors and supporters have responded. With the support of advocates in New Hampshire, Prout has joined a growing national movement to end sexual violence and help other survivors find their voices. Her healing journey brought her to the public stage, a place few victims of sexual violence ever go. She had owned her truth, and pledged to take a traumatic personal experience and turn it into something positive. The focus shifted from a teenage victim to a survivor’s bravery. In her first interview on NBC’s Today show this past August, Prout reclaimed her identity and her life. She wanted other victims of sexual assault to understand that they, too, didn’t have to hide in the shadows anymore, and let fear and shame keep them from speaking out. Her name and pieces of her past were slipping from her grasp, and she knew it was time to go public. The young woman at the center of a high-profile rape case that rocked Concord felt helpless as the darkest corners of the Internet took control of her fate: Anonymous strangers were posting pictures of her, her family, her home. She never sought the spotlight that only national television cameras can bring. Chessy Prout never wanted the fame and attention. ![]()
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