Chessy Prout

Raised in Japan, Chessy Prout moved to the US after the 2011 Tohuku earthquake. She enrolled as a freshman at St. Paul's School -- a boarding school in Concord, New Hampshire that her father and sister had attended. In 2014, Chessy Prout was a freshman, when a senior boy sexually assaulted her as part of a ritualized game of conquest called "The Senior Salute."  Chessy bravely reported her assault to the police and testified against her attacker in court. Then, in the face of horrific backlash from her once-trusted school community, she shed her anonymity to help other survivors find their voice. One person at a time, Chessy built a circle of survivors who took a magnifying glass to the institutions that turn a blind eye to such behavior and a society that blames victims rather than perpetrators.  Chessy writes about her experiences in her memoir I Have the Right To: A High School Survivor’s Story of Sexual Assault, Justice, and Hope. The book received the International Literacy Association's (ILA) 2019 Award for Best Book in Young Adult Nonfiction.  Learn more at ihavetherighttobook.com.

After facing unfathomable backlash from her school community, Chessy left St. Paul's school to finish high school in Florida. As a senior, Chessy decided to step forward publicly to help other survivors find their voice when her former school challenged her anonymity in a court filing. And so, #IHaveTheRightTo was born as not only a social media campaign, but also as a way to engage students and people young and old to be a positive force for change and bring safety and respect to all. 

Since its inception in 2016, many have come forward to claim their rights, shine the light on the issue of sexual assault in schools; and share their experiences, learning, and resources through #IHaveTheRightTo. These stories have inspired a movement for people to claim their rights and the Prout family to create a space that can serve as a safe community for those committed to shifting our cultural understanding of how to support survivors around the world, and to help them find justice. 

I Have The Right To (IHTRT) is a national non-profit, 501(c)3, with a mission to prevent sexual violence and its consequences in private high schools and boarding schools, and to provide essential services to crime victims and survivors. Building on momentum gained from Chessy’s #IHaveTheRightTo social media campaign and her recently published I Have The Right To book, the organization promises to be a safe place where survivors, and families of survivors, can come to find support, belief in their accounts of what has occurred in their lives, advocacy for their rights, and a loving community. 

Founding Principles: 

All students have the right to: 

1. Know and exercise their rights; 

2. Be believed; 

3. Be heard; 

4. Justice; and 

5. Attend a high school without the threat of sexual assault, sexual hazing, or sexual bullying. 

Chessy's speaking engagements include moderated panels, Q&A, and short-to­-medium length speeches for audiences of every kind. Specializing in topics such as: her book, youth and female empowerment, middle and high school relationships, and educational safety from a student's perspective. The program can also feature Chessy and Investigative Journalist Jenn Abelson, who had been at the Boston Globe at the time of Chessy's assault while reporting on the issue throughout the Northeast, and is presently a member of the Washington Post Investigative Team.  In addition to Jenn, Chessy can also be joined by one or both of her parents to offer audiences a powerful perspective on the broad impact of sexual assault on a survivor's entire family and the community beyond. 

Awards & Recognitions:

• SURVJUSTICE - Survivor Courage Award, 2018 • Naples Daily News Student of Distinction - Community School of Naples, 2017 • Together for Girls - Chessy Prout Global Hero of the Week, 2017 • Together for Girls - Named one of the "Sixteen Heroes of 2016"

Past Engagements (partial list):

• Together For Girls, Panelist • Georgetown Day School • Quinnipiac - Yale,Dispute Resolution Workshop, Speaker • U.S. House of Representatives Bipartisan Task Force to End Sexual Violence, Panelist • University of New Hampshire School of Law, Panelist • NOVA Annual Training Conference, Speaker • Fort Belvoir SHARP Professional Training, Speaker

CHESSY IS ALSO AVAILABLE TO APPEAR with her co-author Jenn Abelson, who can lead a conversation with 20 year old Chessy Prout, and, if desired, a panel can include Chessy's parent(s).  Whether appearing alone, in a facilitated conversation or an expanded panel with her parent(s), the discussion explores Chessy’s journey as a survivor of high school sexual assault, the struggles teens face in speaking out, how to respond to survivors, and ways to upend rape culture. Chessy will dive deep into the challenges young survivors face, including bullying, guilt, shame, betrayal, and isolation from their communities. Chessy (and her parent(s), if desired) will talk about her pursuit of justice and describe some of the key lessons she's learned: there is no perfect victim; rape is not a punishment for poor judgement; and survivors can find strength through their vulnerabilities. Chessy also discusses how her assault impacted her entire family and the organization they launched together to help other survivors and build a culture of consent called, I Have The Right To. See video on this website featuring her mother, Susan Prout on "CBS This Morning" with advice for parents.

ABOUT JENN ABELSON:

Jenn Abelson was an investigative reporter for the Boston Globe when she was co-author with Chessy Prout of her memoir, I Have the Right To: A High School Survivor’s Story of Sexual Assault, Justice, and Hope which grew out of her Globe reporting.  Ms. Abelson’s investigations for the Spotlight Team have exposed sexual misconduct at private schools, ESPN, and within the modeling industry. She has also investigated surgeons secretly operating on two patients simultaneously and the mislabeling of fish at restaurants. In 2015, she was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for a series about dangerous off-campus college housing. She is on the Investigative Unit of The Washington Post. Ms. Abelson grew up in New York, attended Cornell University, and lives in Washington, D.C.