Recently, more and more celebrities, predominately women, have come forth with their sexual assault experiences from multiple, prominent movie producers and directors. So rather instead of bringing awareness to sexual assault and help bring an end to it, a concert goer at the “We Can Survive” charity concert sexually assaulted Harry Styles during his performance.
During Harry Styles’ performance at the charity concert, as he got closer to the crowd a concertgoer inappropriately grabbed him in the crotch. This sexual assault caused Styles to pause the show to collect himself, but still persisted and continued the show. Even though Styles paused for a moment, he has yet to come out and talk about his sexual assault, but thousands of fans went to twitter to show their support for Styles and bringing awareness to sexual assault with the hashtag, #RespectHarry. While it is reassuring to see how many people spoke out against Harry Styles’ sexual assault, there were several “fans” who believed this kind of behavior was justified due to their dedication to the pop star and the fact that he’s a man and a man can’t be sexual harassed or assaulted. This stigma that men can’t be sexually harassed is unfair because when a man speaks up about their sexual assault, they are often ridiculed and are deemed liars for bravely sharing their experiences. It’s especially hard for fans of Styles to understand why someone would sexually harass a person who begins each and every performance with his iconic phrase “Treat people with kindness” and then try and make the victim seem as though it was their fault.
Sexually assaulting anybody, regardless of gender or a high profile celebrity, is morally wrong and the one who sexually assaults the victim is always in the wrong, no matter what the situation may be. As more and more celebrities come forth with their sexual assault experiences, hopefully they will shed more light on how sexual assault is pushed under the rug in Hollywood to protect the careers of sexual assaulters.