OREGON
OregonLive
By Brenda Tracy
I was gang-raped by four men, two of them Oregon State University football players.
I can’t tell you how many times I have used this introduction when speaking publicly. At first I couldn’t say it without getting a lump in my throat and tears welling in my eyes, but today those jarring words roll off my tongue.
I was …
Gang.
Raped.
The secret and shame that I held private for so many years went public last November when Oregonian/OregonLive columnist John Canzano wrote about my ordeal and the long list of betrayals that followed. After the release of the second column, I had a decision to make. Would my legacy be defined and end with two newspaper accounts of my worst moments, or would I take my story and attempt to change my community, my state and my nation?
I chose the latter.
Sexual assault is an epidemic in the United States. One in five college women will be the victim of an attempted or completed rape. Ninety percent of these women know their attacker, and 80 percent will never report the victimization. Ninety-eight percent of all rapes are committed by men, but it’s only 10 percent of the male population committing these acts of violence and two-thirds of them are serial offenders. Campus serial rapists average six to eight victims each.
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