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Was It Worth It? (Why people do/n't report sexual assault. Includes new Franken allegation.)
https://www.thecut.com/2019/09/coming-forward-about-sexual-assault-and-what-comes-after.htmlIn the two years since the New York Times published a story detailing allegations against Harvey Weinstein, Me Too has become a verb, a movement, a flashpoint. What has been lost in the relatively recent reckoning about sexual assault has been the steep cost — both literal and emotional — for those very people on whose testimony the movement has been built. New York interviewed 25 of them, whose stories date back to the 1970s and up to the present day, to find out what happened after they spoke up and everyone else moved on.
(snip)
Not everyone speaks out. In 2017, eight women accused Senator Al Franken of groping or kissing them without their consent, leading to his resignation. A former staffer who served on Democratic campaigns and works at a large progressive organization spoke on condition of anonymity about why she has not come forward. Franken told ‘New York’ in response to her account, “Two years ago, I would have sworn that I’d never done anything to make anyone feel uncomfortable, but it’s clear that I must have been doing something. As I’ve said before, I feel terrible that anyone came away from an interaction with me feeling bad.” Sirius XM recently announced that Franken will host his own show.
(snip)
"I was just out of college in my first job, working for U.S. senator Patty Murray. Al Franken was the guest speaker at an event in 2006. I was working the photo line, and he pulled me in. Murray said, 'Let’s take the picture.' And he puts his hand on my ass. He’s telling the photographer, 'Take another one. I think I blinked. Take another one.' And I’m just frozen. It’s so violating. And then he gives me a little squeeze on my buttock, and I am bright red. I don’t say anything at the time, but I felt deeply, deeply uncomfortable. It was such a confusing experience. At first, I didn’t take it all that seriously.
"At the time of the incident, I think, I’m going to go to law school. All I want to do is run for office in my home state. This created a moment of reflection on like, Who the hell do you think you are? There is something that tells men that they, particularly those who have a lot of power, that they have access to my body in some way that is based on the hierarchy of the organization that we’re working in or society or whatever it is. My anger wasn’t directed toward him. It was more like, How audacious am I to think I could do anything? It rocked my confidence. As I look back on my career, I am always in deputy roles and support roles."
(snip)
Not everyone speaks out. In 2017, eight women accused Senator Al Franken of groping or kissing them without their consent, leading to his resignation. A former staffer who served on Democratic campaigns and works at a large progressive organization spoke on condition of anonymity about why she has not come forward. Franken told ‘New York’ in response to her account, “Two years ago, I would have sworn that I’d never done anything to make anyone feel uncomfortable, but it’s clear that I must have been doing something. As I’ve said before, I feel terrible that anyone came away from an interaction with me feeling bad.” Sirius XM recently announced that Franken will host his own show.
(snip)
"I was just out of college in my first job, working for U.S. senator Patty Murray. Al Franken was the guest speaker at an event in 2006. I was working the photo line, and he pulled me in. Murray said, 'Let’s take the picture.' And he puts his hand on my ass. He’s telling the photographer, 'Take another one. I think I blinked. Take another one.' And I’m just frozen. It’s so violating. And then he gives me a little squeeze on my buttock, and I am bright red. I don’t say anything at the time, but I felt deeply, deeply uncomfortable. It was such a confusing experience. At first, I didn’t take it all that seriously.
"At the time of the incident, I think, I’m going to go to law school. All I want to do is run for office in my home state. This created a moment of reflection on like, Who the hell do you think you are? There is something that tells men that they, particularly those who have a lot of power, that they have access to my body in some way that is based on the hierarchy of the organization that we’re working in or society or whatever it is. My anger wasn’t directed toward him. It was more like, How audacious am I to think I could do anything? It rocked my confidence. As I look back on my career, I am always in deputy roles and support roles."
7 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
Trump has been accused by over 20 women of sexual assault and every single one made their name public. EVERY SINGLE ONE.
My response to this one is the same as the others. I'm not going to throw Al Franken to the wolves based on anonymous accusations that haven't been investigated (and obviously never will be).
