Figuring out how to talk about rape and sexual misconduct is one of the greatest challenges a journalist can face. Sexual violence is an intimate, intense and emotional subject to cover. As high schoolers, especially student journalists, it’s a hard time to orienteer a conversation about subjects students are not used to talking about.

We recognize, however, that as journalists, we have a responsibility to shine a spotlight on areas of darkness. We have an obligation to expose wrongdoing and to champion the voices people in power have worked tirelessly to silence.

It is our job as a school newspaper to explore what national issues mean to West Essex. What we have found in talking to students and administrators is that the recent frenzy of sexual assault allegations are not just emblematic of Hollywood or politics, but of a societal culture that has long avoided talking about the things that make us uncomfortable.

The silence that typifies conversation about sex in the classroom or at home is the same silence that shields predators from justice. The ugliness of sexual assault must not be used as an excuse to shy away from stories of abuse, but rather as the motivating force behind exposing them.

It would be counterproductive to try to sanitize this issue.

The brutality and pain of sexual abuse is what makes standing up for victims so noble. That is why reporting on the culture that breeds that disrespect is crucial.

The Wessex Wire condemns sexual misconduct in the strongest terms possible. Sexual misconduct—lewd language, unwanted advances, physical abuse—has no place within civilized societies nor among humans with a functioning moral compass.

The prominence of sexual aggression and coercion in American society has existed in darkness for far too long. We applaud the work of fellow journalists who courageously pursued these stories, and we applaud even louder the numerous victims who have found the power to come forward and share their stories.

We decided to dedicate this edition’s center spread to the issue of sexual assault to provoke a long overdue conversation. It is our hope that illuminating student opinions about the culture of sex in America will allow West Essex to reflect on how it views that power.

Sexual assault is a difficult thing to talk about. Talk about it anyway.