“We knew their silence wasn’t malicious. But no one had any idea what to do, and they weren’t asking. It was okay not to know what to do. It wasn’t okay not to ask what they could do.”
The above is, for me, one of the biggest takeaways from this book. Sexual abuse is a subject no one wants to talk about or read about, but unfortunately it is one that we ignore to our peril and that of those we are responsible to protect. We may not know what to do when we hear that someone close to us has been hurt, but we can listen and ask. And this is applicable to more situations than just abuse.
“Love is the motivation that will give joy and peace when doing the right thing is hard and hurts.”
Rachael Denhollander used her gifts to stop an abuser at great personal cost. Her husband’s example of patient, sacrificial love during their courtship and later during all the legal proceedings was also moving. I appreciated her explanation of the need for the civil suit against those who ignored the warnings and created an environment where abuse could continue. So often, our gut reaction to civil suits is to just accuse the plaintiffs of wanting money. But because companies or institutions often do not truly care about those they are responsible for, the threat of a lawsuit is sometimes the only way to bring about change.
A difficult but highly recommended read. Passing it on to my daughter now.
