One question gave me the courage to report my assault

I couldn’t imagine what else Kevin thought there was left to do (Picture: Getty Images)

‘What are you going to do next?’

These words from Kevin*, one of my closest friends, caught me off guard.

After more than six months in therapy, I’d finally spoken up about the sexual assault I’d experienced more than ten years previously, in a blog post I’d written mainly for my friends and family, as I didn’t know how to tell them all individually.

I couldn’t imagine what else Kevin thought there was left to do.

So what he said next floored me: ‘You need to go to the police and report him.’

His words felt like a slap in the face; they laid bare all my fears. I redirected all the anger I felt towards my assailant at him.

‘I can’t,’ I snapped. ‘It happened so long ago; what if they blame me...