If you read the Wikipedia page dedicated to bull dogs, you will understand why I consider myself a kindred spirit. Bulldogs are normally docile and happy to please. Although low to the ground, they can move quickly when the need arises. Occasionally, they can be willful and stubborn.

That’s me. No matter how troubled I am in my personal life, I try always to smile and spare others the misery loves company routine. I’m short but I can run – especially my mouth off. Get me started on topics dealing with women’s rights, and I’ll talk until your ears bleed. Injustice gnaws away at my insides and, like a bull dog, I’m ready to fight whenever the need arises.

Rarely am I stumped when formulating a battle plan. I’m good with words and my favorite weapon is to write insightful commentary that forces the reader to consider all sides to an issue, especially when it comes to violent crime… sexual assault in particular.

Needless to say, nothing frustrates me more than having roadblocks erected by disingenuous people. I recently wrote an article expressing my views on the redefining of rape by the FBI. Although it has taken eighty years to accomplish what should have been written into the law from day one, representatives in Washington are boasting as though they suddenly discovered Jack’s magic beans.

You may have read my op/ed piece posted here on dtms a few weeks ago. I know for a fact you could not have read it anywhere except on the web. Every newspaper rejected it. Baffled as I was by the lack of positive response, I wrote the editor of one local paper. Here is our email exchange:

Editor to me:

Donna, thanks for sending. I’ll pass on this.

Me to Editor:

I would like to ask you a question, and if you choose to answer, I would appreciate total honesty.
Why is it that whenever a woman writes an article encouraging women, especially those who have been sexually assaulted, to take a stand and fight back through the courts or in the legislature, no one wants to publish it. Are we going to be treated as victims forever? Is being a survivor not something to celebrate? Thanks for your candor.

Editor to me:

You say “whenever.” What is that based on?

Me to editor:

I've submitted similar articles to other media outlets. No response. Every time I write an article that attempts to move rape out of the realm of sex crime and into its deserved place as a violent crime, the media turns a deaf ear. Every victim I've ever met -- no, allow me to change that -- every survivor I've ever met agrees that until we can speak about rape openly and honestly, we'll never reduce the assault rate. Until that day, rapists will always have the advantage.

Editor to me:

I can’t speak for “other media outlets.” I’d say (local paper) has given you room for comment.

Me to Editor:

You have and I appreciate what space you have given me. However to make change, one must make waves. The media seems to like still water.

Editor to me:

            silence

Of course, there was no “editor to me.” The dialogue – if it ever was a dialogue – ended abruptly. Notice I never did get an answer to my original question. I must say that now I actually know what is meant by “a man of few words.”

I don’t care how often my editorials wind up in a circular file. I don’t care how many rejection notices I receive. As long as women are in danger of being sexually assaulted, I will keep writing. I will preach from my soapbox until I’ve whittled it down to a toothpick. Then, I will pile my toothpicks one on top of the other and keep talking.

As my daughter said after she was attacked, “If by pursuing my attacker in a court of law spares even one other woman from being raped, all that I went through was worth it.”

Saving lives – when is it not worth it?

Visit: www.feelnoshame.org