A new memoir underscores the power of witness.
“If you see something, say something” is a familiar motto that encourages vocal community engagement in combatting evils ranging from terrorism to human trafficking. But there’s a dangerous and false corollary to this belief: that if nothing was said, nothing probably happened.
In her new book, What Is a Girl Worth? (Tyndale, 2019), Rachael Denhollander traces the story of her sexual assault at the hands of Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor, and the grueling process required to bring him to trial. Denhollander makes it clear that the apparently simple act of saying something is in fact incredibly difficult in the case of sexual abuse. “Incredibly” is the right word to use, for it speaks to the difficulty of finding things believable or credible.
In recounting her story, Denhollander explains the two-fold challenge: First, it’s incredibly difficult for sexual abuse survivors to speak up and be believed. Second, it’s incredibly difficult for listeners to really hear and believe.
The Scriptures have much to say about bearing witness to evil and injustice, and What Is a Girl Worth? offers a sobering reminder of the importance of qualitative listening. As believers, we are called to be not just hearers but listeners (Mark 4:12) and doers (James 1:22). We are to listen and respond to God’s word, and we are to listen out for and respond to injustice, just as God our Father does. But both the act of speaking and the act of listening are fraught with complications.
Nassar first assaulted Denhollander in 2000 when she was 15 years old, but it was only in August 2016—sixteen years later—that she filed a complaint with the Michigan State University police department …