Sexual assault survivors: Believe us, protect us, educate, act

The stories are graphic, disheartening, sickening and sad — uncomfortable to absorb.

They are uncomfortable because they are the stories of those our community has let down: the person groped at a concert, the girlfriend assaulted multiple times by a boyfriend, the employee with the sexually explicit supervisor, a woman raped by a stranger in her home.

They make us hurt because they are stories of an insidious part of our culture that we have failed to fix.

More than 350 people shared stories of sexual harassment and assault through a survey The Star circulated recently. Others reached out to The Star directly, eager to be part of a conversation they insist must expand beyond the latest election cycle.

Teenagers, men, women of all ages told their stories.

Mostly, they asked everyone to listen. Without judgment or skepticism, politics and personal opinion aside.

Listen, they insisted, and be moved to action.

This story was originally published November 3, 2016 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Sexual assault survivors: Believe us, protect us, educate, act."