Donald Trump's Ignorant Tweet On Sexual Harassment Has Started The #WhyIDidntReport Movement
Today, September 21st, Donald Trump issued a dangerously ignorant statement about Brett Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford.
Donald Trump is known for saying, implying and even tweeting stuff that's offensive and/or ignorant. So, while his statement about Brett Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford doesn't sound like something he could never say, the fact that he actually said it has enraged people all over the world.
According to Rainn.org, every year only about 30% of sexual assaults are reported in the USA. So for President Trump, that there is no official record of the majority of sexual violence in this country. Those who have been victims of sexual assault in their lives know how much courage it takes to speak up, and Trump, has shown no regard for them at all.
I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents. I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!
¡ª Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 21, 2018
This started a movement on Twitter. Survivors of sexual assault are coming forward and sharing painful memories of the incidents to emphasize why they had to stay silent about their attacks.
#WhyIDidntReport He was a very handsome family friend, I took a motorcycle ride w/him. He drove to a cornfield and raped me. I was a virgin, 17 yrs old. Never told my parents. I don't remember the exact date, or cornfield like Trump expects me to, but it tears me up every day!!!
¡ª Deb Vermaas (@debv219) September 21, 2018
I was 19. With a terrifying look in his eyes, he pinned me down, grabbed both my wrists with 1 hand & tried to unbutton my pants with another. I kicked him as hard as I could in the crotch and ran out. He didn¡¯t actually rape me so I thought ¡°nothing¡± happened. #WhyIDidntReport
¡ª Meredith Salenger (@MeredthSalenger) September 21, 2018
Because my stepdad raped me, a young Black boy, and I knew people wouldn¡¯t believe that anyone would any power would believe those sort of acts. #WhyIDidntReport
¡ª PrestonMitchum (@PrestonMitchum) September 21, 2018
I was 17. He beat me to a pulp in broad daylight. Nobody helped. He later stalked me, broke into my home & slashed friend's tires. During some of that time, I worked as a police dispatcher.I didn't tell my cop friends!
¡ª Sister Resister (@JaceLGalloway) September 21, 2018
When a woman comes forward, BELIEVE HER! #WhyIDidntReport
The sexual abuse occurred over ten years. Most of the time, I denied that what happened actually happened. Because when it's your mother, you find ways to rationalize the behavior, even when, by any objective viewpoint, it should clearly be abuse. (thread)#WhyIDidntReport
¡ª Charlotte Clymer???? (@cmclymer) September 21, 2018
Because I didn't want to ruin his reputation. Because I didn't want to cause any drama. Because the nightmares weren't THAT bad, right? Because I'd be okay, as long as no one ever touched me again. Because the panic attacks couldn't last forever, could they? #WhyIDidntReport
¡ª Kae ?? (@tritshuh) September 23, 2018
because he had already told people it was consensual before I knew what had happened. because not a single one of my friends believed me because I was ¡®drunk¡¯ and accused of being too embarrassed to admit it was consensual. bcause 150 people turned it into a joke #WhyIDidntReport
¡ª Hayley Alexa (@hayleyalexa92) September 23, 2018
I was raped up to 4 times/day by my dad & he tried his own DIY abortion. He made our pet dog do things to me. I didn¡¯t report it because he threatened to dissolve me in acid & felt humiliated/ashamed. Who would want any of that publicised?#WhyIDidntReport
¡ª KimChown- Break The Silence (@adultsurvivors1) September 23, 2018
I was 9 years old. A man took me away from everyone else at a birthday party and stuck his hand down my pants. He asked me if I liked it. I thought I had done something wrong. #WhyIDidntReport
¡ª Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) September 22, 2018
#WhyIDidntReport Because I wasn¡¯t ready to confront it. I¡¯m still not. That doesn¡¯t mean it didn¡¯t happen. I¡¯ve written and deleted this tweet dozens of times bc even saying this much is scary.
¡ª TheBloggess (@TheBloggess) September 21, 2018
#WhyIDidntReport my sexual assault.
¡ª Peter Morley (@morethanmySLE) September 21, 2018
I was living in a time when someone who identified as a gay teenager would NOT be taken seriously by the police.
I believed that I would be mocked & ridiculed for being gay.
I also felt it was MY fault.
I didn't think they would believe me.
I told a few people in our friend group, but they called me a liar and a whore. "He would never do that." They turned against me and I was made to think it was my fault. He shot himself in the head a few years later so it feels like it wouldn't even matter now. #WhyIDidntReport
¡ª Lorien Williams (@lorienwilliams) September 23, 2018
#WhyIDidntReport bc I was 16, I was drunk and I was a virgin and I blamed myself. Bc I did not want my parents to know. Bc my best friend did not believe me, so why cops and other adults should? Bc It was be better if I pretend it never happened.
¡ª ¼t?? (@AdrianaWeronika) September 23, 2018
Reporting sexual abuse is not exactly easy. The violation, hurt and pain the victim feels cannot be felt by those who merely hear or read about it. To say that something did not happen just because it was not reported, without taking into account the other facts around the case is plain ignorant.
