Sex Assault Victim Schools George Will

Last month, Washington Post columnist George Will basically undermined any progress we've made as a society by calling sexual assault victims "privileged" in an op-ed. On Wednesday, the girl Will used in his column as an example of said "privileged" victim, Lisa Sendrow, responded to Will's asinine arguments on CNN. One of her main points, which makes this whole situation all the more frustrating, is that victims of sexual assault don't actually want the attention, but when delusional spectators like Will drivel on about the "coveted status" of victimhood, they're basically bullied into standing up for themselves — on top of the sexual assault they've already endured.

Sendrow is a former Swarthmore College student who shared her story for Philadelphia Magazine's feature on the university's troubling rape complaints. Her story is one that is, unfortunately, familiar to many female college students. She tried to get him to stop; he didn't. She tried to report it; she was ignored. Will decided to use Sendrow and her story as flimsy evidence of victim proliferation, as if they're all joining in on some fitness trend.

Not surprisingly, Will's callous statements did not sit well with Sendrow, who appeared on CNN on Wednesday to make a few remarks of her own. Hopefully her statements will restore your faith back in humanity.

Lisa Sendrow Fires Back

• "[Will] made so many grotesque remarks about sexual assault, dismissing not only my claims, but essentially using that as a way to dismiss all sexual assault claims, diminishing what it looks like on college campuses as if it doesn't exist."

• "Sexual assault is extremely triggering.... There are so many people on college campuses who are triggered every single day, so many people who are diagnosed with PTSD, so many people who don't come forward and are afraid to talk because of things like what Will is saying."

• "So many people are afraid to report. I have met many brave men and women ... who have come forward to me who ... are afraid of how their schools will react, especially being on Swarthmore's campus — it's such a small school — no one wants to have any sort of retaliation."

• "Rape culture needs to change. There's this one idea that always comes to my mind, is that [it's not] people need to avoid being sexually assaulted, when really the conversation needs to turn to how we can teach people to not sexually assault. If you're saying 'No,' you mean 'No.' If you're not saying 'Yes,' you don't mean 'Yes.'"

• "Sexual assault doesn't need to be in a back alley and you're raped by some sort of stranger. Sexual assault can happen to anybody; it can happen at any point. It can happen by friends or family members, boyfriends, girlfriends. Anybody can sexually assault or be sexually assaulted."

• "If someone came forward whom [Will[ knew extremely well, saying that this happened to me, and I was afraid, and I don't want to go outside anymore, I don't want to go to class anymore, how would he react to that?"

• "I want to see this discussion continue, of course, but more specifically with George Will, he's entitled to his opinions. I don't think that sexual assualt should be a politicized argument — it shouldn't be an argument at all. Sexual assault happens."

• "I just want George Will to recognize that, that there are people out there who have feelings, who are hurt, who are triggered and traumatized every day."

• "This is not a privilege for anybody."

Image: CNN