‘Fighting is worth it,’ even in defeat, say midshipmen who reported sexual assaults
The Washington Post reports:
Here’s how low the expectations are among some of those midshipmen who have reported being sexually assaulted at the Naval Academy: After Thursday’s not guilty verdict for a former Navy football player charged with sexual assault, three such women said they were floored that the case got as far as it did. And they are in awe of the accuser for taking it to court at all.
They all said she had accomplished something important in the process, spurring badly needed reforms to the system, even though the accused, Midshipman Joshua Tate, was found not guilty of sexually assaulting her in a car outside an off-campus party in April 2012.
“Fighting is worth it,’’ even in defeat, said Annie Kendzior, who reported in 2011 that she had been sexually assaulted by two Naval Academy athletes in 2008. “I don’t want to say I envy her, because this is nothing to envy, but even a step towards justice is awesome.’’
