Group Of Rape Survivors And Advocates Call Attention To Violence Against Women
CITY HALL (CBS) -- A group of rape survivors and advocates came together in City Hall on Tuesday to call attention to violence against women, with a public reading of a letter from a rape victim to the Stanford student convicted of the crime.
Charing Ball read the letter to bring attention to the violent culture.
'I stood there looking at my body beneath the stream of water and decided I did not want my body any more.'
The letter went viral on the internet and choked up some of the women who took turns reading different passages.
'I was terrified of it, I didn't know what had been in it, I wanted to take off my body like a jacket and leave at the hospital with everything else.'
Councilwoman Helen Gym initiated the event and said the event aimed at bringing the community together.
"This was really about bringing together a community of women: survivors, allies, supporters, to talk about and end sexual violence on campus," Gym said.
Gym worked with her female council colleagues on the event, making this their third project together. Gym said more events are in store.
"We're interested in the ways in which women's issues can work their way through municipal policy and doesn't just get stuck at the state and federal level," councilwoman Gym said.
