Julie Jewels Smoot

Healing did not take away my voice. Peace did not make me passive. And compassion did not make me willing to tolerate bullshit.

Shut Up and Listen to Survivors emerged from that frustration. Originally written as a poem, this piece was inspired by Julie Smoot's experience witnessing the disconnect between the voices of survivors and the institutions tasked with addressing military sexual trauma. The message is simple. If you want to understand what happens when military sexual trauma is reported, listen to the people who have lived it.