Since the first headlines of the Kobe Bryant case streaked across the banners of major television news shows and newspapers, many people in the American public have held an unjustified, almost sadistic contempt for his alleged victim simply because she had the courage to come forward and tell her story to authorities.
As a result, she has been ridiculed, had her life threatened and been exiled by her own classmates. The anthem of our nation seems to sing, "How dare you accuse our beloved champion!"
According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, there were 247,730 victims of rape or sexual assault last year. One out of six American women have been the victims of an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime totaling over 17 million who have suffered at the hands of a sexual predator.
Yet despite the overwhelming amount of sexual assault victims in our society, many women fail to report what has happened to them.