hope for sexual assault victims
Warning: The following story may contain material some find to be graphic or triggering.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. Every 98 seconds, someone is sexually assaulted in the United States. Chances are, it has happened to someone in your life and you may not even know official canada goose outlet it.
It happened to one of our friends, an employee at WHNT News 19. Loni Cleve said she needs to tell her story. She wants sexual assault victims to know they are not alone. She also wants to help others be better equipped to protect themselves and their loved ones.
Loni is like so many women in the Tennessee Valley.
Loni’s newest mission canada goose coats is driven by a simple canada goose factory outlet ten minute errand on July 28, 2017, that Canada Goose Parka morphed into a defining moment. on a Friday,” she said. “We had clients that were in town canada goose outlet online uk that had flown in. “I walked across the street and decided to take the stairs and as I was going up the stairwell, I saw someone. And my gut said ‘notice.'”
Loni continued to climb the stairs to the third floor and walked the 25 yards to her car.
“I leaned in and I placed canada goose outlet cheap canada goose my bags and as I began to turn, I was pinned canadian goose jacket against the car,” she said. “In my mind, I’ve turned this into a two minute scenario, just for the sake of knowing it having some time and space. When I turned, immediately remember saying ‘please don’t.’ I remember thinking there’s a gun, not because I ever saw a gun, just because I thought there was one. I remember thinking ‘hook your left shoulder on the car door, don’t get pushed into the car.’ And then, I blacked out. In my two minute canada goose outlet parka time frame, of I’m guessing a good thirty seconds, I don’t know what happened.”
Loni said the man she saw in the stairwell masturbated on her and verbally harassed her. He had to step back, and I was able to make it out into where the cars would be driving by,” she said. “And he walks by me, looks canada goose outlet nyc me in the eye, winks and then strolls, and the word ‘stroll’ matters, he strolled, he took five steps canada goose coats on sale and, then, he uk canada goose was gone.”View Gallery (4 images)
More than 60 percent of sexual assaultsare never reported to law enforcement. But at first, Loni said she was not convinced that she was sexually assaulted.
“In my mind sexual assault was being raped. If I was not thrown into the back of that car and raped, I was not sexually assaulted,” she said. “You start listing off what is okay and what is not okay. Mine was a sexual assault. I was held. I was masturbated on. I was spoken to and told what was going to happen to me. I was sexually assaulted.”
“It’s so important to me for all people to know that, but specifically, I have a 12 year old daughter. She’s in the seventh grade,” added canada goose outlet uk Loni. canada goose outlet online “If today, with my life experience, I cannot define what is and is not okay to do to me sexually, I’m not certain how our children are supposed to be able to clearly define what is and is not sexual assault.”
Loni said some kind strangers quickly found her in the garage and helped her contact police. She later learned the surveillance video showed that man had been in the https://www.cheshuntteamministry.org.uk parking garage for hours following women, some with young children.
“He clearly knew where he was, he clearly canada goose outlet had established a sense of timing from this stairwell, also to this stairwell,” Loni said. “He never lost eye contact, he was very calm. He had something that he canada goose outlet black friday needed to accomplish and he did. The footage also shows him strolling down the canada goose outlet new york city stairs. He was confident. We know now from the footage in the stairwell, it was not his first time. We’re not certain what he did, we can’t guess what Canada Goose Online he did to anyone else. I don’t know how far he’s taken his actions before, but his confidence would indicate that it was not his first time.”
“If today, with my life experience, I cannot define what is and is not okay to do to me sexually, I not certain how our children are supposed to be able to clearly define what is and is canada goose uk black friday not sexual assault.”
In the months to come, police said different men attacked more women. But Loni said those that know her best, would never believe that she would be one of those victims.
“There are few things about me and my personality that, before, goose outlet canada I wouldn’t think I couldn’t handle myself in this situation,” she said. “I know specifically for me, I was chosen, I was put there, God was with me through it. And I needed that moment or else I would have thought I can handle this on my own, every time. I believe I was there because I was supposed to be able to handle cheap canada goose uk it and I didn’t. It didn’t make me wrong.”.