Vincent Schilling. Photo from Twitter
Vincent Schilling, a member of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, shares his story:
When I was a young man—more like a boy, actually—I was molested and sexually assaulted on several occasions by two different older men. I was 16, which is pretty young, considering, but I was also a young 16-year-old: I was slow to develop and was younger physically than the majority of young men my age. Today, I am not ashamed of what happened. It was not my fault. The reality is that I was targeted, groomed, coerced and assaulted at the hands of men who manipulated me and took advantage of my nature. The statistics of rape and sexual assault in Indian country are staggering. One out of three of Native women are assaulted or sexually abused, a horrible rate. This makes my heart ache and I fight tears for our sacred women as I write this. As I try to stand up for our women, I also want my fellow Native men to know you are not cowards, you are no less a warrior and you are not alone if you were sexually assaulted in your lifetime.Get the Story:
Vincent Schilling: I Am a Male Victim of Sexual Assault (Indian Country Today 2/12)
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