It was just after 2 a.m. on a pitch-black Friday morning when Bernadette Greene-Placentia’s life changed. The Democratic candidate for Congressional District 8 strolled across a parking lot to repair a damaged campaign sign. It was a routine she’d followed all summer. This time, she only made it a few yards.

An attacker smashed her over the head. She blacked out. She woke up to find a strange man on top of her.

Greene-Placentia struggled to open her eyes. She felt a sharp pain below her waist. The attacker was pulling his penis out of her.

She heard him mumble something like, “-ic bitch, not a very good fuck,” which her mind filled in as “Democratic bitch,” she recalled. She wasn’t sure that was exactly what he said.

One leg was out of her jean capris. She wore brand-new tennis shoes and a campaign t-shirt. Another man came over. Greene-Placentia felt his weight nudging her left leg further apart. She began swinging her foot at him. “Not even worth it,” she heard the man say as he moved away. He wore black boots and had small feet, she recalled.

The two men left Greene-Placentia face down in the parking lot. The hatch of her silver Jeep Grand Cherokee was still open. The car was still running. She heard music.

She doesn’t remember pulling up her pants or picking herself off the asphalt parking lot. She doesn’t remember closing her Jeep’s hatch and putting her foot on the gas. She doesn’t remember pulling her car into the driveway and collapsing into her bed.

“It’s just these little tiny flashes of things that I do remember,” Greene-Placentia said in an interview with Phoenix New Times. “As much as I don’t want to remember, I’ve tried very, very hard to remember more stuff. But that’s where I’m at.”

    • WraithGear@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      you have brought nothing but unjustified ad hominem attacks, and now thought terminating cliches. you have a problem with my understanding of victim responses to harm, but you are going to have to actually deal with what i said, instead of making up your own, because i don’t get to put words in your mouth to find out

      • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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        2 days ago

        I don’t have to actually deal with what you said.

        You can deal with how unpopular your comments rightfully are though.

        • WraithGear@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          that is an open admission to everything i accused you of, and you fall back on to an appeal to mob rule, it’s lazy and dishonest. and quite frankly i can live with negative votes. it does not invalidate my core argument of, i don’t like this whole thing.

          • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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            2 days ago

            You’re mistaken if you think that I have an obligation to feed into your victim blaming in order to maintain some sort of integrity here.