Last Friday, the nation’s political conversation moved beyond left or right. Sexual assault has no politics. It’s a crime.

I’m a sexual assault survivor. And a journalist. Those are not mutually exclusive, even in the current political climate. I do not take my role in the conversation lightly. That’s why I write this. We are no longer in the realm of politics. As a country, we have waded into something entirely new.

The assault allegations swirling around Donald Trump and Bill Clinton are not politics as usual. These are not simply another bout of scandals coming into focus in a toxic campaign. Sexual assault is a dimension beyond politics.

It is not Trump being Trump, Bill being Bill, or boys being boys.

Sexual assault has no sides. Lines are blurred, however, when there’s no conviction, only allegations. That’s when sides are chosen, accusers become liars and alleged attackers become guilty rapists.

I ask that we remind ourselves of what we are tasked with doing as Americans. We are compelled to decide who will be the leader of our country. And if in the last month of this campaign, we’re talking about who’s more likely a rapist, this is no longer a political conversation — it becomes a testament of who we are at our core.

For sexual assault survivors like myself, the personal has become the political.

I was political science minor in college. I love politics. But now, in the last month of this campaign, my stomach turns when I peer into the abyss that is the presidential race. Because of what happened to me a number of years ago, I am part of the political conversation — a role that was forced upon me.

I come to you as a human face of what the campaign has devolved into. I’m someone who underwent one of the most traumatizing and degrading things a person can go through and who now must watch my past abuse be used by political opponents as a talking point to undermine one another.

The country’s ultimate decision next month will demonstrate who we are and how we believe others deserve to be treated.

This race has moved beyond left or right. It’s a measure of our humanity and that measurement will determine who we believe should run our country.

What’s at stake in this election is what defines us — as sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, friends, neighbors — as Americans.