Dear Mr. VP,

I don’t have a whole lot to say to you today. You choose to work for a man who took to Twitter today to devalue the experience of millions — yes, millions — of people across this country who have been raped or sexually abused or molested, and didn’t report it to authorities. For any number of reasons. They were scared or repercussions. They were embarrassed. They were too young to make that choice on their own anyway. They didn’t want their names to be dragged through the mud. They didn’t think they’d be taken seriously. They knew even if they reported, it was drastically unlikely their rapist or abuser would be arrested. Reporting would put them in harm’s way. Maybe a combination of these valid reasons.

Today my letter is to those people. Who have carried this for years, and who today were told by their president, “I don’t believe you.”

Well, I believe you. I hear you. And I think you’re brave, whether you reported or not. You survived.

D