These past few weeks in Hollywood have been filled with an overwhelming amount of accusations against powerful men. Ever since the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault claims began on October 5th, more and more people have been telling their stories and calling out these men for what they truly are: sexual predators.
Louis C.K.was accused of exposing himself and masturbating in front of five women. Since the accusations came out, his movie release and comedy special were cancelled and several media outlets cut ties with him. His response, is somewhat eloquent, but cannot atone fully for the trauma he caused these women:
“I have been remorseful of my actions. And I’ve tried to learn from them. And run from them. Now I’m aware of the extent of the impact of my actions.”
Brett Ratner, Ed Westwick, David Guillod, Steven Segal, Kevin Spacey, Jeffery Tambor, George Takei, and Kirt Webster are on the other long list of men who have been accused of sexual assault and harassment in the past month. Most, if not all, have received major fallouts in their careers and major backlash from the public.
However, it’s not just Hollywood that’s experiencing an epidemic of sexual assault allegations. The political sphere of Washington D.C. is also in a league of its own. Roy Moore, an Alabama candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2018, was accused of raping a 14 year old girl while he was a 32 year old district attorney.
Also, three women have come out to say that he forced them into relationships when they were between the ages of 16-18 and he was in his 30s. This has been met with outrage from Washington and the media. However, many right-wing voters and Republican Officials have come out to show their continued support of Moore. In the cases of both our current president and Roy Moore, Republicans and Conservatives have expressed their disgust by it, but still endorsed both of them in fear that Republicans are going to lose an election. They don’t seem to care that they are both sexual predators, as long as it’s a win for their party.
Are you truly advocating for family values if you’re ignoring the fact that a member of your own party sexually assaulted a 14 year old girl?
It’s important for politicians to stop putting partisan issues over sexual assault and harassment issues. We already have a president who was elected even though he said he “grabbed women by the p*ssy” without consent. These are traumatic events that affect women on a daily basis, and it’s time that we stop sugar-coating issues like these and believe women. It shouldn’t matter if that person is Democrat or Republican, it they’re a sexual predator, they’re a sexual predator. Plain and simple. It’s time to put politics aside and fully comfort and embrace women for having the courage to speak out and tell their stories.
The number of allegations that have been released in the past few weeks have brought about one positive outcome: survivors giving other survivors the courage to speak out.
Survivors of sexual assault can be afraid to press charges against their assaulters, because, in a patriarchal society, the male predators will likely get away with it and sweep it under the rug as much as possible. These people coming out and speaking is one of the many ways women and all survivors of sexual assault are standing up to the system. It’s a way that we can say that we are not going to stay silent. We have the power to speak out and tell the truth of what happened to us, and say that, one day, justice will be served for every survivor of sexual assault.