They wouldn't know as much about me. They couldn't possibly understand. The feelings that go through someone in a situation like that are impossible to describe.

BUT, that doesn't give me the right to silence anyone. If someone watched me get assaulted, then they experienced something too and they're allowed to talk about that. I've told numerous of my friends about what's happened to me, and I'm elated every time I see that what I've experienced has influenced their worldview. I've had my situation brought up numerous times by people who have either watched things happen to me or have heard me vent about it, and in my eyes, it's a good thing that people are getting closer to understanding even if they can't understand completely. As soon as someone else is witnessing, that's another person having an experience, and they're no less entitled to their experiences than I am.