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submitted by virginiacoyote
(All names have been changed)
When I started college almost 3 years ago, I met my then-roommate Grace. She and I became best friends very quickly and lived together freshman and sophomore year. During our freshman year, I was sexually assaulted by a mutual friend of ours. A couple months after the fact, when I was finally ready to start talking about it, I told Grace what had happened. She responded with a combination of shock and disbelief. She told me she was sorry, and that I could talk with her about it if I wanted to.
In the next couple months, and into the beginning of sophomore year, I noticed that Grace continued to hang out with my rapist, talked about him to me, etc. Considering what close friends we were, I felt very betrayed by this. I basically told her that I found it really shitty of her to continue amicable interactions with this guy after knowing what he did to me. We talked about it some more, and it turned out that she never really believed me when I told her what had happened. She spewed some victim-blaming shit about how it was "probably just a misunderstanding" and that she "can't really believe that he would do something like that." I was appalled and said the fact that she wouldn't take my word for this was abhorrent. I finally said that she was an adult and could choose to stay friends with a rapist if she wanted to, but that he was not allowed in our dorm, and that I did not want to ever hear his name from her again. She agreed to this. From what I could tell, she seemed to fall out of touch with him. Whether this was intentional or not, I don't know.
Later on in the semester, she had a pretty traumatic experience that she didn't label as sexual assault, but, to me, seemed nonconsensual. She had brought home a guy she had met at a club (I saw him in the lobby of our building and didn't like the look of him at all). When I saw them together she was rather drunk but was talking clearly and standing up straight. I took her aside for a moment and asked if she felt she was in the right state to hook up with him. She said yes, so I felt like I had done my job as a friend looking out for her safety.
She brought him home, they ended up having sex in the other room, and from whatever I heard through the walls it seemed fine. The next morning, I saw her in the living room crying. I asked her what had happened and she told me that she never wanted to have sex with him, but that he kept asking repeatedly and pressuring her until she gave in. I was very supportive to her (let her talk, let her cry, assured her that she was not to blame, etc.). Later that evening she thanked me for being so supportive, and apologized for not doing the same for me when I was sexually assaulted. She told me she was sorry for not taking it seriously before, but that she now understood and believed me.
A few months later, I decided to report my assault and pursue a Title IX investigation (look it up if you're not familiar with it). Given what she said to me most recently, I thought I could rely on her to back me up and testify in my favor, corroborating that I did, in fact, tell her that I was sexually assaulted by this person, and that she believed it to be true. Weeks went by and I got a nice email from the University saying that he was found not guilty, along with a report containing all evidence and testimonies. In it, I saw a summary of her exchange with the investigators. To my shock and disgust, she told them that she didn't believe me and essentially testified in favor of the rapist.
It goes without saying that I no longer considered her a friend after this point. I spoke with her about it shortly thereafter. She honestly seemed oblivious to how bad she made me look in her testimony. I asked her why she told the investigators what she did, and as we talked more about it, the same old victim-blaming shit came back up. She said she "disagreed with labeling the experience as sexual assault" even though I had clearly told her exactly what happened (things were happening, I asked him to please stop, he kept going). For whatever reason, my so-called friend was unable to take my word for my experience seriously. After that, I continued to run into her in the building or on campus. She'd smile and say hello, but was the last real conversation I had with her.
She happens to be the girlfriend of my very good friend, Brian. I introduced them when Brian was looking for a drummer for his band (Grace plays drums). Up until now, I didn't tell Brian anything about what Grace had done, because I figured it was strictly between me and her and not his business. I found myself wanting to open up to him about it, because I want to be honest with him about important things. Also, because this is his girlfriend we're talking about, and what she did, IMO, speaks volumes about her character. Still, I said nothing.
Tonight Brian and I were talking, and he said, "By the way, Grace told me she's worried that you're upset with her." I didn't want to be like "Yep!!! She's a rape apologist!!!" so I just said, "She can approach me personally to talk about it if she wants to." and he said fair enough.
I don't know if she will reach out to me, but the ball is currently in her court. My question to you is: Since Brian brought this up, can / should I tell him exactly what happened?
A part of me really wants to, for reasons stated above, but I also don't want to be accused of trying to "start shit" or deliberately damage a relationship. They've been together for over a year now, and seem pretty serious. I feel like this is important information for him to know about what kind of person she is. I know Brian as a person, and he values knowing the truth above all else, but I'm still torn. Help?
tl;dr: Ex-roommate testified against me in a sexual assault case, her boyfriend (my close friend) mentioned to me that she thinks I'm mad at her, I'm not sure what, if anything, I should tell him about this.
all 28 comments
[–]-s-e-v-e-n- 184 points185 points186 points  (4 children)
Ditch that bitch for good. You should tell Brian, he deserves to know what kind of a bitch she is, but whatever you do, don't ever ever talk to her again, she's not a friend. Be careful who you trust, she screwed you over twice.
[–]raptorrage 21 points22 points23 points  (3 children)
For real. If my so helped someone get away with rape, I'd want to know.
[–]ManicMuffin 6 points7 points8 points  (2 children)
To be fair, they don't usually give out a not guilty based on a single testimony.
[–]raptorrage 9 points10 points11 points  (1 child)
Yeah, but it's valuable evidence in a hard to prove crime.
[–]scurvy_durvy 1 point2 points3 points  (0 children)
It would mean very little that years ago she told her roommate she was raped. There would be no physical evidence of rape, nor would there be an admission by the accused. It would make almost no difference.
[–]Mindgate 18 points19 points20 points  (0 children)
Since Brian is a good and close friend of you I would say yes, you should open up to him, also because I wouldn't put it past Grace to paint you in a bad light to him. I don't think you should sway Brian to break up with her or make it as little shit-stirry as possible. Just lay out the facts to him, in a very detailed way so Grace's version will not hold water.
Tell him since your friendship with Grace is over for good (come one, he really should know about his gf and his super close friend being in a feud) and that you want your (your and brian's) friendship to remain strong and you hope that somehow works out with Grace in the picture.
[–]belmincour 74 points75 points76 points  (3 children)
I would suggest you tell Brian that Grace knows exactly why you're upset with her, but you think it's probably best that he talk to Grace about it because you don't want to say anything against her given that they are dating.
I think you explaining it to him ( in which case he will immediately present Grace with a "is this true?" and she has a chance to make up anything she likes to counter your version) is going to be a lot more open to interpretation and being miscontrued as you lying to try to start shit with her.
But if you send him back to Grace for an explanation saying she knows the truth, either 1 of 3 things are gonna happen.
  1. Grace will give Brian a false explanation that paints you as the bad guy, which given that you sent him to her for an explanation and are clearly upset, probably isn't going to fly with Brian.
  2. Grace will admit that she testified against you and Brian will make up his mind what to do about that.
  3. She won't admit to anything, which will make her position look pretty dubious and in which case Brian would be far more inclined to accept your version of events on face value if he comes back to you.
[–]anjufordinner 33 points34 points35 points  (2 children)
I think it's far more likely that Grace will paint her as irrationally upset or change the thing they're upset about.... Or even tell the truth but skew it so deeply that Brian, being an average dude, will probably (hopefully) not be able to relate and he might even take his gf's side. Always better to get your word in first, in my point of view.
[–]belmincour 13 points14 points15 points  (1 child)
Usually I agree - the reasoning why that's normally best and why I don't think that it is in this case is what is called frame control.
In this case you're starting from a disadvantage, but that can be turned around. As the one aggrieved with his girlfriend you should normally be expected to explain yourself and your story will be the subject to critical examination, tested against the story he prefers to believe: hers.
But by subverting that expectation you're adopting a position of power (you don't feel the need to explain yourself and implying that the GF is the one in the wrong) refocusing his attention on getting her story first which subtly implies that she's hiding something, you're leading him to examine her story expecting an explanation without the hope that it vindicates her. That may be enough to let her blow her own story open if she tries to invent a tale with herself as the hero with no background fabric to weave it into - all while being heard by an already skeptical ear that is looking for gaps. Especially if it fails to explain OPs disgruntlement.
[–]anjufordinner 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
Oh hoooo!
That is clever indeed.
Thanks for adding the detail!
[–]ThePoopyPrincess 17 points18 points19 points  (0 children)
First of all, Im so sorry this happened to you and Grace is a shitty friend...which is why she's not your friend anymore (good for you). I don't think you should tell him what happened because, like u/belmincour said, he will most likely go back to Grace and ask her anyway. This will probably brand you as the person who started all the drama and "meddled" in their relationship, giving Grace more reason to shit talk you. I think all you can do is hope that Brian will see how upset you are with Grace, ask her about the events, and come to his own conclusion about what kind of person Grace is. Be warned, however, sometimes people will believe anything their SO says, and honestly Grace sounds like a manipulative person, so I wouldn't be surprised if she twists things.
[–]queefer_sutherland92 4 points5 points6 points  (0 children)
I'm so sorry that happened to you :(
Tell Brian, don't try and beat around the bush. Tell him that you've been put between a rock and a hard place in telling him this, and that you're not asking him to choose between your friendship or his girlfriend, but you wanted to tell him the truth.
Also keep in mind that if she tries to undermine you, you have her witness testimony you could always show him.
Grace sounds like she's projecting her own denial on to you ("If hers isn't rape, then mines not rape either! It's all just a big misunderstanding!") In turn, you're the one paying the price.
Either way, don't reach out to her. She's done enough.
[–]craaackle 5 points6 points7 points  (5 children)
Show him her testimony if it's not considered private or whatever. That's all he would need, I bet, to understand what a cunt this Grace person is.
Wanted to add that I think you were very brave for going through with filing the report.
[–][deleted]  (1 child)
[deleted]
    [–][deleted]  (2 children)
    [deleted]
      [–]craaackle 0 points1 point2 points  (1 child)
      Maybe you missed the part where Grace said:
      She told me she was sorry for not taking it seriously before, but that she now understood and believed me.
      And then did:
      To my shock and disgust, she told them that she didn't believe me and essentially testified in favor of the rapist.
      [–]scurvy_durvy -1 points0 points1 point  (0 children)
      I think she said that she believed her in the moment as she was emotionally upset over what happened to her.
      After time passed her previous opinion returned.
      [–]Spectrum2081 4 points5 points6 points  (0 children)
      Grace isn't a rape apologist. She just didn't believe you. Whenever you tell a friend something terrible about their other friend, they have to make a choice as to who they will believe.
      I bring this up because if you decide to talk to Brian and you say Grace is a rape apologist, he too will have to choose who to believe: you or his girlfriend. And he will likely choose Grace and you'll lose another friend. If he brings it up again or if you really feel the need to tell him, keep it nutral: "I was sexually assulted and during the investigation Grace gave a statement that it wasn't an assault but a misunderstanding."
      [–]Do11ar 4 points5 points6 points  (2 children)
      I think you should just show him this post.
      [–]onomatopoetic 15 points16 points17 points  (1 child)
      Or the court record with Grace's testimony, if Brian already knows what actually happened and how it affected you.
      [–]Quarentine 2 points3 points4 points  (0 children)
      or both
      [–][deleted]  (1 child)
      [deleted]
        [–]onefai -3 points-2 points-1 points  (0 children)
        Darn, it is his and her words against yours. I hope justice will prevail.
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