Katie Thurston - Bachelorette 17 - Discussion

"I called 911 to report my r*pe. They sent an officer to take my statement and then drove me to a special medical center to perform a SART exam," she recalled. "I felt like a small lost child who was vulnerable and scared. They thoroughly explained the process, asking for consent along the way, and allowing me to decline or change my mind at any time.”

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Thurston shared that after her blood was drawn “to check for STDs, drugs, and blood alcohol concentration,” she was offered several treatments, including, “Plan B, Rocephin (a shot for bacterial infections), Azithromycin (to treat possible STIs), and Truvada and nPEP for a month (to treat possible HIV).”

In the following slides, she provided various wellbeing resources, including information about the r*pe, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) and the recommendation that followers read Chanel Miller’s Know My Name. "While I could only consume it in small doses at a time before nausea would hit, I also felt validation each and every chapter," she wrote.
In a now-expired Instagram Story from the same day, Thurston implied that she ultimately lost the legal battle against her alleged rapist, writing, "It took 7 months for the San Diego Justice to let me down as a victim of r*pe.”

She expanded on this in the longer post. "I did everything I should have done as a victim of r*pe. 'Here are my texts, my calls, my photos, my videos, names, witnesses, locations, social media, time stamps, surveillance footage, DNA, my body,’” she wrote. “The warning 'a guilty verdict is hard in criminal court' echoed throughout & the months, like an annoying parrot you were forced to keep. And as much as l heard it, I still wasn't ready to be stopped. And yet, without warning, I was.”
Thurston concluded that the way her case turned out was "not a loss" for her personally, as she remains safe, loved and supported. She wrote that it was instead “yet another loss in a broken system,” adding, "The justice system failed me. And continues to fail thousands every single day.”

Urging fellow survivors not to give up, Thurston ended with the message, "Be your biggest advocate. You are valued. You are strong. I believe in you.”

Representatives for Thurston did not immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly’s request for comment.


https://ew.com/former-bachelorette-katie-thurston-aftermath-r*pe-8672017