Regarding “Her own worst enemy” (Aug. 25): I knew Kelly Boyer when we were both young women, engaged to be married to men who had been friends since childhood.

I remember a vivacious young woman who was deeply in love. None of us guessed there was anything wrong. She wore the mask she referred to very well.

I barely recognized the drawn and sorrowful woman in the accompanying photograph. I was beyond angry to realize she was a victim of sexual assault.

Studies have revealed a direct correlation between sexual violence and addiction. Kelly is less “a victim of the disease called alcoholism” than a victim of one man’s long-ago violence. The very words used in the print headline – “her own worst enemy” – point to the victim’s tendency to blame themselves, which is reinforced in ways both subtle and blatant by society.

Kelly Boyer is not the “monster” she fears others see her as. She is, very simply, the one who has paid for one man’s monstrous act. She paid with her marriage, her reputation, her happiness, her peace of mind and, now, her freedom.

My heart breaks for her.

Zoe Goody

Cape Elizabeth

Copy the Story Link