The #MeToo movement has sparked a powerful and much-needed conversation about sexual harassment and assault in the workplace and everyday lives of women all over the world. The debate has been so influential in bringing down powerful predators like Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and Roy Moore that Time Magazine has named The Silence Breakers as the 2017 Person of the Year. Women everywhere are being celebrated rather than silenced for sharing their abuse stories, and it seems like a new influential man is being brought down every day.
However, and disappointingly so, one man has been largely excluded from this debate: Donald Trump, the President of the United States. Donald Trump has been repeatedly accused of sexually harassing and assaulting women. So far, a reported 19 women have come forward alleging themselves as victims of Trump’s behavior. Nineteen. Only a judge and jury can officially call Trump guilty in this country, but to suggest that 19 separate women are all lying seems like a ridiculous statement.
Jessica Leeds, who has come forward as a victim of Trump’s, once told Time magazine that Trump “was like an octopus. His hands were everywhere. It was an assault.”
Photo credit: The New York Times
Leeds has commented on her feeling let down by the current discourse of the movement for overlooking Trump as a target. Leeds said, “Things just seem to fall off of Trump. I’m extremely disappointed.”
During the course of Trump’s campaign for president, the total number of women who accused him of assaulting them rose to 19. (For a full breakdown of each woman’s story, check out the slideshow profiling each allegation here.) Most of these allegations involve Trump forcing himself onto the women, groping them and forcefully kissing them. One woman, Melinda McGillivray, says she was only thirteen years old when she was groped by the President at Mar-a-Lago.
McGillivray also feels as though her story was forgotten about. “It’s disturbing that many of Trump’s diehard supporters are so stubborn that they can’t seem to come to terms with the reality that their president is just as guilty as Roy Moore,” she wrote to People.
These allegations are disgusting and yet somehow believable for the man we have elected as President of this country. He is going largely unpunished, and that needs to change. People like Norm Eisen, who was the chief ethics lawyer for the Obama White House, are hoping to help fight the battle with these twelve women.
Photo credit: The New York Times
“The President’s alleged offenses against women, of sexual harassment, sexual assault, are very serious, much more serious than many of those that have resulted in people losing their jobs,” said Eisen.
Eisen and other lawyers agree that right now the best vehicle to punish Trump is a lawsuit that looks into these allegations in full. Of course, Trump’s lawyers are calling this legal battle a fight over “fake news,” but this is not discouraging the prosecutors. Trump can complain about unfairness and lies all he wants, but he will see his day in court.
The 19 brave women who came out against Donald Trump have all said #MeToo, and it’s about time we not only listen but take action. Bring Trump into the forefront of this conversation, and force Washington to acknowledge the accusations of Trump and do something about it. It is time that the President deals with the consequences of his actions in a courtroom, not from behind closed doors in the White House.
Cover photo credit: AOL
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