[Content Note: Sexual violence; rape culture.]
"If [black women] report our assaults to police, we risk being retraumatized not only by the inhumane process of reliving a violent experience through sharing its gory details—but also by the violence of the criminal justice system itself, which treats rape victims like suspects. Worse yet, the police themselves commit assault with impunity; often, they target black women in particular, knowing our existence at the intersections of racism and misogyny make crimes against us far less likely to be investigated. To be a 'good rape victim' is to immediately report your assault to the police (even knowing you will likely never see 'justice'), but to be a good black person is to avoid the police entirely because your life quite literally depends on it. The tightrope walk is impossible."—Hannah Giorgis, in a must-read essay, "Many women of color don't go to the police after sexual assault for a reason."
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