Denim Day - My Story of Sexual Assault

Denim Day...Denim Day was started 21 years ago after a young woman in Italy rape case was overturned because the jury felt because she had on tight jeans she had to have helped her rapist take her pants off.

Some of you know me as Maya Howard, some know me as the girl who is Miss Junior...but I know myself as someone who survived...Around 11 years old I was raped .... by someone I looked at to be my big brother, someone I trusted, someone I thought would protect me, someone who I thought would have my best interest at heart always. I never told. Because of this rape , I struggled to find myself beautiful, I found myself contemplating suicide, I was lost for years and I truly didn’t know what to do. I eventually met two women who little did they know they saved my life. By my Senior year I found happiness in thoughts of moving to Nashville to go to school and ultimately never have to deal with the things of my past. I had a plan and I set out to make my dreams come true, it was simply my destiny everything I had endured would be worth it. March 2019, I had few triggers that reminded me of what happened years prior and I finally decided to tell my mom what happened to me. She proceeded to tell me, he had been accused of raping someone else...I felt like a failure. I was supposed to tell what he did to me to protect her and anyone else who came after me. That moment forward I made it my mission as Miss Junior to help others overcome their past with abuse l even while I was still battling mine. I felt God testing me in these moments...because in May of 2019, He did. In May of 2019, a friend sexually assaulted me but I was able to fight him off. That moment created memories I pushed so far down in my memory bank it reminded me why I sleep with my glasses on, and why I have to sleep with the tv on. I didn’t know what to do anymore. I truly pretended to be okay meanwhile inside I was dying...the next month my Grandmother passed. I felt myself losing me again. It wasn’t until my event in October Silenced No More and I shared my story to the attendees and my mentee said to me “Maya I never would’ve known, you’re so strong.” That moment forward I vowed to bring awareness to sexual assault and to bring happiness to others.

I support survivors of sexual assault because I am one. I am someone who survived. I am someone who is surviving. It’s not easy some days, I have my bad ones but we are all human. I hope this story encourages you to speak out and get help.

~ With love, A Survivor, Maya Howard