Ovid’s Afterlife
A. Everett Beek
1599
- Thank you for being a voice for the survivors of sexual assault and for calling out academics that continue to look the “other way” when it comes to classic literature. There was one group of women at risk that you did not address. I’m sure it was only because these women fly so far below the radar of society that most people don’t know this is an issue. These are women who are a part of the Intellectually Disabled community and the Mentally Ill. Some women are unfortunate enough to fit into both categories. As the mother of a woman that is intellectually disabled, I have witnessed how proving sexual assault is all but impossible for them. My daughter has been sexually assaulted in more than one occasion in different situations and none of her abusers have been prosecuted. One man was jailed briefly and eventually dishonorably discharged from the Navy but my daughter never got “Her day in court”. As a result she felt that the police felt she was lying. I just wanted to put this in your radar maybe it can help other women in the future.