Her writing provides a haven to those who have experienced similar situations and educates others on the effects of silencing assault survivors. She describes the many feelings of survivors of assault and the shame they place on themselves. “Notes on a Silencing” can be a challenging read due to the nature of the topic, but Crawford’s candor and honesty make the memoir a must-read. Paul’s School, she would not actively seek any news regarding the school and tried to leave it all behind, but rumors continued to follow her years after she graduated. “There are also ‘encounter,’ ‘incident,’ ‘event,’ ‘attack,’ ‘happening,’ ‘situation,’ ‘night in question,’ ‘time in that room.’ Little-known fact about victims: they can tell whether you believe them by which term you use when you ask what happened to them.”Īfter Crawford graduated from St. Twenty-five years later, she would learn her “label” and a list of all “labels” for assault cases. She did not understand where her story “fit in.” She knew it was nonconsensual, she was underage, and that she was held down and forced. “I was too stunned to think ‘rape’ when I pleaded with them not to have sex with me, though rape, in the traditional sense, was precisely what I meant to avoid,” she said.Ĭrawford said she struggled to understand what had happened, and whether it really was rape or assault. When Crawford arrived, she quickly realized she had been set up by two classmates. Paul’s, a strict curfew blocks students from roaming campus late at night, but she took her chances to help whom she thought was a friend. On a late night in October of 1990, Crawford was called by a former classmate under the guise that his mom was sick, and he was seeking solace and comfort. “The simplest way I can tell the story of my assault is to describe how the boys made me feel I was no longer a person,” she said in the memoir. Paul’s threatened her with silence to cover up the assault. As soon as she had established her confidence, it all left after her sexual assault, and how she silently shamed herself and struggled to “blend in” after St. This case would uncover years of the school covering up assault cases to maintain their prestigious reputation.Ĭrawford tells of her feelings of isolation during her first year at the school. Paul’s School in 2016 regarding the 2015 assault of Chessy Prout by Owen Labrie. Eventually, it discusses the case opened against St. Crawford describes how this event affected her in the years during and after her time at the school.Ĭrawford’s memoir gives readers an intimate account of everything she endured during her years at St. Paul’s covered up the assault and shamed her. The memoir recounts her sexual assault at the hands of two 18-year-old upperclassmen when she was 15 and how St.

“Notes on a Silencing: a Memoir” by Lacy Crawford details her time and experience at the prestigious private boarding school, St. Chessy ultimately finds strength in educating teens about consent and empowering them to use their voices to heal the world.“First, they refused to believe me. This memoir explores the role of family, faith, and forgiveness in overcoming trauma. She launched the #IHaveTheRightTo campaign to encourage people to claim their rights to their bodies and their voices, and to stand together in support of victims of sexual violence.

At age 17, Chessy broke her silence on the Today Show to let other young survivors know they are not alone. The support Chessy received from her family and social justice advocates helped the teenager turn her pain into power - a poignant journey that embodies tikkun olam. Her willingness to stand up to the school’s toxic culture and pursue justice resulted in swift backlash: girls shunned her, boys bullied her, and school leaders tried to intimidate her. After Chessy Prout was sexually assaulted as a 15-year-old freshman at an elite boarding school, she bravely reported her attacker to police and testified against the popular senior in a trial that attracted international attention.

Chessy prout memoir