I think courage requires resolve more than strength. You have to resolve to see something through because you feel it's the right thing to do no matter how it turns out.

That's easier when you're talking about courage on the battlefield or saving someone's life by risking your own in three particular ways.

1. We don't train for sexual assault (or what to do in the event of one) like we do being a soldier or a first responder profession. So when it happens you are unmoored by the trauma of it with no training or forethought to step in and guide you. You go through it starting from below ground zero.

2. We're still wriggling from under the history of our bodies being the property of men. Did you think that fix was going to be a quick 5 year plan? Frankly, were still fighting for bodily autonomy (thank you TX, you assholes). Until bodily autonomy is normalized and women are seen as important as men INSTEAD of rape, harassment and assault, it's not going to be as simple as reporting it.

3 . Other things we usually associate with acts of courage don't usually get such strong and harsh blowback and censure. I mean, if a fireman runs into a building to save a trapped child while off duty and dies or gets burned in the process, nobody says, "well, what was he doing there? What was he wearing? He was kinda asking for it, wasn't he? He knew better." If a policeman dies on the job in a drug bust that went sideways no one says, "he should have thought about his family. In fact, if HE kills someone, until fairly recently he gets a pass. No one said boo.

Further, they don't run the risk of losing their jobs and their insurance for what happened.

In the case of reporting assault and rape, strength isn't enough. It might get you to the door, but it won't get you through. More often than not, you will be harmed and suffer more. Your family will suffer. Your career will suffer.

You will gain little to nothing from coming forward. You do it for those that follow. For our daughters and granddaughters. When you realize and embrace that, you find your resolve.