Granite Staters In Nashua And Londonderry Make A Stand Against Sexual Abuse

By ZACH LAIRD, InDepth NH

NASHUA, NH — A small group of several Granite Staters rallied at City Hall on Thursday night to stand against sexual abuse and support survivors in wake of a Jane Doe accusing seven Cornell University students of gang-rape.

About 10 citizens also rallied on Mammoth Road in Londonderry that same evening.

The demonstration, hosted by Gate City Voices — a grassroots advocacy group based out of Nashua — was part of a national call to action with similar demonstrations across the country.

Spearheaded by Women’s March, a national movement that organizes events to speak up against sexual abuse of women, also seeks to highlight the sexual abuse perpetrated by prominent figures like President Trump and Jeffrey Epstein.

“We knew that we needed to do something; we needed to bring this to the forefront. It’s extremely important to become aware of what’s going on. These things aren’t just happening to women,” Gate City Voices Founder Michelle Roussel Buckley said.

Buckley continued that sexual abuse also happens to men, but the issue is that most men won’t stand up and speak about it “because it’s not a manly thing to do. We know that anytime a major event like this happens, we need to be here for our community.”

She said the organization started a little over a year ago when she felt she needed to do something to “get our community together in terms of some of the actual events that were going on in the country.” The group also organizes peaceful rallies and silent events such as rock painting, with the rocks dispersed around the community for residents to see.

Buckley is also running for State Representative in Ward 3 as a Democrat.

According to an article by BBC.com, Jane Doe — who was a 20-year-old undergraduate at Cornell University at the time of the crime — alleged in her civil lawsuit that seven men from the university’s Chi Phi fraternity chapter raped her for hours after in an incident involving alcohol and the psychoactive drug known as Ketamine. She stated in her lawsuit that she was intoxicated and could not give consent.

The article also notes that in her lawsuit is a screenshot from an apparent fraternity group chat inviting other members to get involved. Her lawyer stated she was numb and unable to function after the events; she dropped out of the university after it happened.

Attendee Colleen O’Brien said she came to City Hall because the state of society is “just so sad,” and said women need to be believed when coming forward about sexual assault (and) rapists and pedophiles need to be held accountable.

Another attendee, Michelle Monis, said she had never told her story about being sexually assaulted before, but when she heard about the case at Cornell University it really affected her as a fellow survivor.

“I had a not exactly similar situation, and the way people are acting, and how she’s just being ripped apart breaks my heart. I had no choice but to come out here because I wanted to do something. We can’t be quiet anymore; we have to be loud and make a change,” Monis said.

In Londonderry, resident Shayna Dumont explained that she organized a rally of concerned citizens to participate in the national movement by Women’s March. As a mother, she said she’s very angry about everything that’s going on — and with there being no other event organized in her town — she decided to put something together herself.

Dumont said people are perceptive to the 10 residents that came to speak up and hold signs at cars passing by to help spread the word.

“I just hope that more people stand up and say something. If they see something, say something. If they’re upset about something, channel that into doing something good with it,” Dumont said.

Attendee Diane Vautier said, “I think it’s great to support women’s issues, especially domestic and sexual abuse (and) violence. It’s often a voice that isn’t heard, and so if people can drive by and see the signs that all these people are here to hold up, then I think it’s good for awareness.”

Some of the demands by Women’s March are:

• Justice for Cornell’s Jane Doe and LSU’s Kendall Francis: Justice for survivor Jane Doe at the NY Supreme Court and Kendall Francis in Baton Rouge.
• Justice for Epstein Survivors: Full Accountability, transparency, and repair for Epstein survivors, including through the passage of the Survivors’ Rights Restitution Act.
• Protect Survivors: Expansion and protection of survivor resources in federal law, including the restoration of Title IX enforcement powers and the publication of the Equal Rights Amendment.
• Expansion & Protection of Student Survivor Resources at Universities: The defense and expansion of women’s, queer, and rape crisis resource centers and departments, majors, and funding.
• Abolition of ICE: Dismantle the agency that terrorizes our communities and inflicts sexual violence against women in immigration detention.

This story was originally published by InDepth NH.