Me too. We want to be special, you know? We think we’re gonna save them—and they lead us to believe that because they are soooooo charming.

Nope. Women manage to delude ourselves every day that it won't happen to us. My ex had a terrible reputation with women and in my naïveté I thought that I would be different. I wasn't.

So, I’m no professional but let’s just say I know a couple habitual liars and truth-stretchers and after 30+ years, you recognize their MO. Anyway, so Cale’s statement just set off all kinds of bells for me. No clear denial. Criticizing her actions but not asking for an apology. Not criticizing the people who…

I feel like I should really give that podcast a listen. Might be tough, though.

My cousin went into social work and is now working as a DV advocate and she’s a pretty mouthy woman with a hilarious sense of humor so that must be a job requirement! She has echoed what you said: it’s hard (anything with kids hits her hard and she goes home and hugs her little one extra-tight) but rewarding and she…

You’re too kind. Honestly, in some ways being an advocate was the best job I ever had. Not only was it wonderful to work helping women and their kids, but DV/SA advocate are some of the most amazing people on Earth and I’m not just talking about generosity or empathy. I’m talking about funny, smart, mouthy women who…

Holy Jesus...how are you even able to function in the world after hearing about these things? My hat’s off to you for the good you’ve done. Thank you.

Following:

An adult white heterosexual man, to be exact.

I don’t know about that. The guy may have cried when he heard about it. That’s pretty harsh to make a grown man cry.

I’m just going to leave this here for anyone that thinks she made it all up:

Listened to Courtney’s podcast yesterday. It was tough to get through, but I’m glad she came forward. This dude sounds like a complete sociopath who gets off on manipulating people. After she was raped, she basically fled from their apartment, leaving most of her stuff behind. A few weeks later, he had already moved…

As someone who was a domestic violence and sexual assault advocate for many years, it never fails to amaze me at how abusers/rapists fail to understand the extremity and harm of their actions. “All I did was push her a little.” (She had a broken collabone and shoulder.) “It was totally consensual.” (She suffered a…

I’m not sure she realizes the irreparable harm of her actions.

Gesundheit. ;)

And everyone pointed the finger at him and him only. If he really weren’t the one she was talking about, I would assume she could come out and say so as not to damage his life/career. BUT she didn’t do that and he took it upon himself to make a statement so that’s on him. He is obviously an abuser and a piece of crap…

Yeah, in his own words, career first, life second. If I had been falsely accused of something, I’d be putting my career on hold. The fact that his main concern is that she is damaging his career speaks volumes.

It’s entirely possible he cannot see his actions constitute rape. Or abuse.

“It is unfortunate that today it’s becoming more and more the norm for an accusation to be taken as fact and the sentence carried out immediately by the anonymous public.”

I hope people understand the courage it takes survivors to come out publicly with their stories. I’m so impressed with these women and their strength. I hope this helps them both on their journeys to recovery.