Last Friday, The Washington Post leaked a video of Donald Trump, in which Trump brags about sexually assaulting women. The Internet instantly blew up. Not only was the video disgusting, but it once again illustrated Trump’s misogynistic bullying tendencies. In the video Trump explains, “…when you are a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pu**y. You can do anything.” In case you are uncertain, Trump is speaking about sexually assaulting women in explicit detail. There is no talk of consent or respect. The video features a powerful man not giving any regard to the thoughts and feelings of another human being. And this man wants to be our country’s leader, one of the most influential people in the world. Someone who young boys and girls will look up to and therefore think it is okay to sexually assault other human beings, and then brag about their actions.
If you think this is just one of those “boys being boys” moments, you are missing the point. If you are a Trump supporter and you consider this to be one more publicity stunt to promote Hillary, you are missing the point. If you respond to the video by saying it’s just “locker room talk” or Bill Clinton was just as bad, you are missing the point. Rape culture is real. It is all around us and it is not okay. According to RAINN.org, every 109 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted. And some people still don’t believe rape culture exists!
After the release of the video, one survivor, Kelly Oxford, asked Twitter users to share their sexual assault stories with the hashtag #notokay to help spread awareness of how prevalent the actions of men like Trump are in this world. The responses were endless. She started the conversation with:
Two days later, Oxford tweeted that she was still receiving responses every second. Here are some of the stories she received:
I don’t know about you, but I am sick and tired of people denying that rape culture exists. I am tired of men like Brock Turner getting little to no punishment for raping women. I am tired of being catcalled and disrespected. I am tired of men like Billy Bush snickering, laughing or not saying anything, while men like Donald Trump make inexcusable, degrading comments about women. The denial of rape culture needs to stop. Changes need to be made to eradicate rape culture and give women the respect they deserve. We need to keep talking about this until something changes. #NotOkay