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The Quiet, Extraordinary Bravery of Cassie Ventura

Experts tell “Glamour” that the singer’s courage in testifying publicly against Sean Combs could not only encourage domestic violence survivors, it could provide much needed awareness of what this type of abuse actually looks like.

She’s not only spent hours on the stand as a witness for the prosecution, but faced two days of adversarial grilling from Combs’s defense team, who have sought to paint the relationship and the sexual acts that occurred between them as consensual. “We’re currently witnessing a very high-profile case that involves a very, very rich and powerful person and are experiencing together with Cassie the courage it takes to look your abuser in the eye, in court, in public,” Arisha Hatch, the interim executive director of UltraViolet, a woman-led gender justice organization, says. Watching Ventura on the stand this week has been reminiscent of another powerful survivor, Gisele Pelicot of France, and the mantra she made famous when she chose to waive her anonymity in the mass rape case against her ex-husband, Dominique, and 50 other men.

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