Breaking the silence: Drury students speak up about sexual harassment
Front Page January 26, 2018, Comments OffThe past few months have been a whirlwind for activism against sexual harassment. From #MeToo to #TimesUp, people across the world are telling their stories and supporting the movement – including students on the Drury University campus.
Media controversy: A timeline
Sexual misconduct against women has been happening for millenniums, but recently, this topic has been spotlighted due to alleged accounts against, arguably, one of Hollywood’s biggest names: Harvey Weinstein.
On Oct. 5, The New York Times published allegations against Harvey Weinstein, Hollywood film mogul, by women who say he sexually harassed them. Since then, over 80 women have come forward with claims of harassment and rape against Weinstein including household names Angelina Jolie, Cara Delevingne and Gwyneth Paltrow.
“I was so hesitant about speaking out…. I didn’t want to hurt his family,” said Delevigne on Instagram. “I felt guilty as if I did something wrong. I was also terrified that this sort of thing had happened to so many women I know but no one had said anything because of fear.”
Weinstein was then fired from his self-entitled company, The Weinstein Company, by its four board members.
This sparked an outpouring of women support, and others have stepped up to tell their stories.
A partial list of accused celebrities include: James Toback (at least 238 accusers), Matt Lauer, James Levine, Louis C.K. Sen. Al Franken, Charlie Rose, Glenn Thrush, Russell Simmons, Jeffrey Tambor, Andrew Kreisberg, Roy Moore, Steven Seagal, Brett Ratner, Dustin Hoffman, Mark Halperin and George H.W. Bush. The list continues to grow daily.
Women aren’t the only people affected by sexual abuse.
BuzzFeed News published an article on Oct. 29 detailing actor Anthony Rapp’s inappropriate encounter with Kevin Spacey, when Rapp was only 14 years old. He alleged that Spacey invited him over to his apartment for a party, and, at the end of the night, Spacey placed Rapp on a bed, climbed on top of him and made a sexual advance.
More people have come forward including Actor Robert Cavazos and Filmmaker Tony Montana.
In light of the accusations, Netflix postponed the production of House of Cards, a popular political thriller starring Spacey. On Monday, CNN announced that Netflix has decided to move forward with the final season of the hit-show without Spacey.
Not only did Spacey’s alleged sexual misconduct anger the public, so did his response – especially within the LGBTQ+ community and its supporters. In his response to the accusation, Spacey came out as homosexual.
The statement, below, is from Zachary Quinto, actor of “Star Trek: Beyond” and member/advocate of LGBTQ+ community:
“It is deeply sad and troubling that this is how Kevin Spacey has chosen to come out. Not by standing up as a point of pride – in the light of all his many awards and accomplishments – thus inspiring tens of thousands of struggling LGBTQ kids around the world. But as a calculated manipulation to deflect attention from the very serious accusation that he attempted to molest one. I am sorry to hear of Anthony Rapp’s experience and subsequent suffering. And I am sorry that Kevin only saw fit to acknowledge his truth when he thought it would serve him – just as his denial served him for so many years. May Anthony Rapp’s voice be the one which is amplified here. Victim’s voices are the ones that deserve to be heard.”
On Dec. 18, Time magazine released its annual person of the year. However, in a plot twist, the publication chose to feature several persons, “the silence breakers” – accurately portraying this year’s global conversation about sexual harassment and assault.
On Jan. 7, celebrities at the Golden Globe awards dressed in black to support the victims of sexual harassment and the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, an organization advocating for legislation to curtail workplace harassment and gender inequality.
The spark for change
What would the world look like if all the sexual misconduct allegations against the president had come out today?
A year prior to Weinstein, a Hollywood Access tape was released showing Donald Trump and television host Billy Bush in 2005 having an inappropriate conversation about women. Trump’s comments included telling Bush that stars have power over women and that “you can do anything” and can “grab them by the [explicit.]”
His comments were met with backlash. Although many women came forward claiming sexual misconduct by Trump, he was later voted in as the 45th and current President of the United States.
Katie Gilbert, associate professor of English at Drury, believes his actions, in part, triggered the outcry for change – 12 months later.
“The person in the highest office has been reported making jokes about sexual assault, and [victims have seen] that person still be put into office…and now the dam has broken,” Gilbert said. “I just don’t think [the victims] can keep their stories in anymore.”
Gilbert explained that sexual misconduct in the workplace became prevalent when women entered the workplace. However, so much went unchecked for a variety of reasons – the pressure to just take it, fear of losing their jobs if they told and fear that no one would believe them.
Now that these attitudes are changing, many people have had to come to terms with the actions of others.
“It can be difficult for a society to accept that the people that they admire, like talented actors or colleagues, can often do these horrible things,” Gilbert said.
Gilbert is confident, however, that positive change can emerge from the headlines. How? She says it’s important for institutions to realize their structural inequities, people in positions of power need to educate themselves, and everyone should start talking openly and actively about their beliefs and values.
“This is full of opportunity; one that I haven’t seen in a long time,” Gilbert said.
Student opinions
The Mirror staff spoke with several passionate Drury students to get their take on the current events.
This conversation has struck a chord with Senior Makayla Jordan-Diemler in conversations with her family. One family member claimed that many people are doing it for attention, while the recent incidents gave her mother the opportunity to come out about her own sexual assault.
“It’s just giving people more bravery to stand up and say it. It’s still really hard,” Jordan-Diemler said.
Sophomore Alex Jones agrees that the recent allegations have given victims a voice to talk about their own sexual assaults, and that it is unlikely, according to Jones, that they would be making it up.
“The issue is not that everyone is coming up at once,” Jones said. “It’s that people are finally able to say, ‘Hey, this is happening and it happens all the time.’ If we keep pretending that it should only be argued when it’s a mass media scandal then that just undermines the issue to begin with.”
Jordan-Diemler agreed.
“Every time you might think this is someone trying to get attention, think about why they would want to expose themselves like that,” she said. “It’s such a personal thing to say out loud. Even if you think it’s opportunistic, I don’t know why anyone would do that. I think people are just braver now.”
There are many reasons that a person may choose to come forward at a later date, or sometimes not at all. For sophomore Michael Davis, making the decision to speak up about their own sexual assault did not come immediately.
“As someone who has been sexually assaulted, it took me years to come to terms with it and it took years to tell anyone. That’s something that is being seen with many recent cases,” Davis said.
According to Davis, the trauma of telling someone who may not believe you, or even laugh, is enough to keep people quiet about their experiences.
“All of these people coming forward and then being accused of lying can be really invalidating for others to speak out about their own assaults because they are afraid they will be treated the same way,” Davis said.
According to Jones, men are more likely to be sexually assaulted than to be falsely accused of sexual assault – and data proves this to be correct. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 20.8% of heterosexual men, 40.2% of gay men and 47.4% of bisexual men have reported sexual violence (other than rape) during their lifetimes.
Other data shows that only 2-10% of rape accusations are false, and most of these charges are dropped before the accusee ever learns of the allegations.
“It’s crazy to me that people are more focused on trying to undercut these stories than to just acknowledge that there might be a problem. What is so fundamentally wrong with the idea of making the world a better place? We can’t change things if we don’t acknowledge them,” Jones said.
The problem may also stem from the current legal system and its handling of sexual assault and rape charges. According to the most detailed nationwide inventory of untested rape kits ever, over 70,000 rape kits remain untested.
“It’s ridiculous how many kits don’t get tested,” sophomore Josie Breeding said. “People will claim that you can go to the hospital and just get tested to prove sexual assault, but that in itself is very violating and then, most of the time nothing even gets done with the tests.”
Jordan-Diemler believes, however, that while it is important to lean on the side of justice and supporting women and men who have been assaulted, we should not overlook the legal process.
“I do think that there should not be a lack of due process,” Jordan-Diemler said. “I feel like there is such an uproar about it that often we assume that they’re guilty until proven innocent, which isn’t how it should be.”
Jordan-Diemler also believes that its important to listen to children, as they are potential sexual assault victims, as well. The National Center for Victims of Crime states that one in five girls and one in 20 boys is a victim of child sexual abuse.
She suggests that by not honoring physical boundaries at a young age, it can send mixed signals about consent.
“Children know from a very young age what they do and don’t want to do. We make them kiss their grandma or hug their smelly uncle without their consent,” Jordan-Diemler said.
Junior Erin Michael agrees and thinks the recent movement is a great platform to start talking about consent with the younger demographic.
“We should be educating young boys about this,” Michael said. “We should try harder to teach children about the importance of consent.”
This article was co-written by Danielle Wheelan and Mady McColm.
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