By Danelle C., October 13, 2019 — When I was younger I had an encounter with a family member where I was almost the victim of a sexual assault. In the African-American community older men are not always held accountable for their actions and with that being said my mother’s brother was never addressed for the actions that he pursued against myself and my other young female family members. I am one of nine children, all but one of us are female. Therefore, almost all of us were always at risk for the potential sexual assault, being in constant contact with people such as my uncle.
I still remember my cousin, who was also my best friend, coming to me and she told me that she had been inappropriately touched by a close family member. When we were young, it was common for him to ask us for help as he did a lot of farm work and other hands-on activities that parents and aunts and uncles would commonly ask your children to assist them with. The one time that my cousin went by herself she was molested and when she tried to tell her parents no one believed her. Soon after, I was unknowingly put in a similar situation, my uncle asked me to come assist him with some basic gardening and I agreed. As it got later, it almost seemed as if he did not want me to leave, and the situation escalated. Luckily, in my case I was able to get away before any real damage was able to be done. When I told my father about the incident he decided to take matters into his own hands because first at this point that he understood that the situation with my cousin was not an isolated incident. I think it really is situations like these that make so overprotective of you and your sister.