Marissa

I just can't imagine how often you do this and how much you do this and the toll that it must take on you emotionally and physically.

And I don't even have the right words to express my gratitude for you.

You make such a difference in people's lives.

And I'm so grateful for everything that you do.

Hi, my name is Marissa.

I was born and raised in Utah.

Back in 2019, I was raped by a college athlete that I thought was my friend.

After the assault, I was extremely vulnerable and confused.

I was informed about my rights and the systems put in place for victims and hopeful that they would help me.

My purpose for telling my story is to bring awareness to the failures that I encountered while working within those systems.

It is so important to me that I am able to help victims understand their rights and the options that they have when deciding what to do after an assault.

I want to make sure that survivors know they are not alone and just truly how much their voices deserve to be heard and that their voices do matter.

Because my case was made so public, I feel the responsibility to speak on this and to help other victims and survivors.

This is a painful story for me to tell, but I am in a unique position where I am able to tell it and I do feel an obligation to do so so that I can spread awareness.

I grew up in Utah.

I grew up LDS, or as most people know it, Mormon.

It's pretty much all I've known for my whole life.

And I think that in Utah, we live in a bubble.

Things that happen outside in the world are not talked about as much.

And there are things that are very nuanced.