Naperville Gathering Shines Light on Dark Subject of Sexual Assault - Naperville Sun
“I did it here because Naperville is very affluent, and people think it doesn’t happen here,” said Zayas, who emphasized she thought she was immune to manipulation because she was a high achiever in the suburbs raised to be assertive and independent.
That scenario was reiterated by Jessica Coffey, who said a supervisor of her dormitory forced himself on her while she was living on a research scholarship and studying abroad in England. “He had pursued me, and we went on a date. He came into my room … I said no, and he wouldn’t stop,” Coffey said.
Because he had keys to all the rooms, she said she lived in fear it could happen again — but she never reported it to authorities.
“I told a neighbor the next day it was a bad experience. I didn’t realize it was rape until a year later,” said Coffey, who graduated from NCC in 2014 and performed at the Naperville event Saturday night. Accompanied by Keith Bondi on acoustic guitar, Coffey sang “The Fighter,” a song about overcoming tragedy from the Los Angeles band In This Moment.
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