How Terry Crews Advocates for Victims of Sexual Assault
By Movieguide® Contributor
Terry Crews opened up about a traumatic event that occurred in his life several years ago and what he believes people need to learn from his and similar experiences others have faced.
“I am a survivor of sexual assault,” Crews said in a video posted to the Rise Now USA Instagram. “When I first spoke publicly about my experience, many people asked the same question that Senator Dianne Feinstein asked me once directly. ‘Why didn’t you fight back?’ And my answer is simple: because survival shouldn’t require violence.”
READ MORE: TERRY CREWS OPENS UP ON OVERCOMING PRIDE, ADDICTION: ‘GET REAL WITH GOD’
Crews was molested by Adam Venit of WME in 2016. In response, Venit had to leave WME and faced a lawsuit. Crews has been outspoken about the incident, encouraging survivors of abuse to speak and protect themselves.
“Men are often both the problem and the solution,” he continued. “We must take responsibility, not just as individuals, but as cultures and institutions. We must dismantle the belief that manhood is defined by control, aggression or dominance. We must teach our sons that result is non-negotiable, that consent is mandatory and that their value is not measured by how much power they hold over others, but by how much they uplift those around them. This is not just a women’s issue, this is a human issue, and humanity demands that we do better.”
Crews has been vulnerable about how he laid down violence to choose forgiveness multiple times in his life, including with his father.
“All I felt was empty. Hollow,” he said, recalling the moment he decide to punch his father after his father hit his mother. “I thought it would feel good. And he’s on the ground, bleeding, crying, and I didn’t feel one bit better. It left me with nothing,” he said.
But he eventually learned to forgive his dad.
“By me forgiving him, by me finding one thing to compliment him and be thankful for, I was able to transcend that moment and we were able to transcend it and, and get past it,” Crews said.
READ MORE: HOW TERRY CREWS FOUND STRENGTH IN VULNERABILITY
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