Danielle Tansino’s Story: Jurors don’t like girls that drink

On the night of April 28, 2011, Red My Lips founder, Danielle Tansino (then 29), was out with friends. She was later isolated and raped by a childhood friend of her then housemate. After filing a police report, and following a traumatic experience with the court system, she was told by a female district attorney that they would not prosecute because, “Jurors don’t like girls that drink.”

In this moment, she realized it was not ‘the system’ that fails victims of sexual violence…we ALL do. We ARE the system. What was almost more shocking than this realization was the response from friends and family who suggested that the attack was a mere ‘misunderstanding,’ or attempted to frame it as a natural consequence of ‘not being careful enough.’ Many others refused to hear or talk about it at all.

As a social worker, activist, and fighter for social justice, the silence and myths surrounding sexual violence fueled an intense outrage…an outrage that erupted in December of 2012 with the creation of Red My Lips.

 

This Story was re-posted with permission from Danielle, it originally appeared on RedMyLips.org, another like-minded and powerful campaign to end sexual violence and combat victim blaming. Follow RML on Twitter @redmylipsorg, visit the site to become a Warrior, and join me in wearing red lipstick throughout the month of April.