Women's Rights & Issues
Related: About this forumNo, I have never been in her shoes but
here is the story of one of the women who came forward:
She was traveling in first class, sitting next to him
About 45 minutes after takeoff, she recalled, Mr. Trump lifted the armrest and began to touch her.
According to Ms. Leeds, Mr. Trump grabbed her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt.
He was like an octopus, she said. His hands were everywhere.
She fled to the back of the plane. It was an assault, she said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/13/us/politics/donald-trump-women.html?_r=0
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She fled? Why didn't she start screaming at him to get his hands off her, so that everyone would hear? It was not in the 50s, it was in the 80s..
Sophiegirl
(2,338 posts)These things happen...
1. Shock and disbelief. This can't really be happening.
2. Flight instinct kicks in. Run, get away as fast as you can.
3. If nobody saw this, no one will believe me. So, say nothing and avoid an ugly scene.
Women are taught from a young age to not cause a scene. This needs to change.
Take care not to come off as victim blaming. Don't judge her reaction.
spooky3
(34,469 posts)Including some here at DU, in 2016.
question everything
(47,530 posts)Cracklin Charlie
(12,904 posts)There's so set way for people to behave when assaulted. You do what you have to do to stop it.
I responded to my groper with a knee directly to the groin. Had I been sitting, that option wouldn't have existed. I cannot imagine having that happen in a crowded airplane.
question everything
(47,530 posts)and if others, as stated below, have done it on DU this is really shameful.
But, we - society - have to ensure that women do know how to react and how to tell the story. Obviously, today, someone would have taken a picture but we have to empower women not to feel victim. Perhaps and, again, I was not there, she could have started by firmly putting the armrest down.
DURHAM D
(32,611 posts)Why didn't she start screaming at him to get his hands off her, so that everyone would hear? It was not in the 50s, it was in the 80s..
Insensitive and failure to get it.
wryter2000
(46,077 posts)There's ignorance, and then, there's willful ignorance.
japple
(9,838 posts)have you?
DURHAM D
(32,611 posts)japple
(9,838 posts)in haste. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa, my bad...
DURHAM D
(32,611 posts)uppityperson
(115,678 posts)who get groped, kissed, assaulted to not only speak out at the time, but to be believed by others.
TexasProgresive
(12,158 posts)I witnessed him "accidentally" touching the breast of a young pretty naive coworker before lunch. She did not do anything to encourage him. He just did it. She and I went out into the field after lunch. Me: "I saw what XXXXX did. Why didn't you say or do something?" She: "I didn't know what to do, I was in shock."
I will never judge a victim who does not charge the perpetrator, especially when the perp has power on his/her side.
About our serial groper, he got his. Our reproduction room, not what you think where the blueline and copy machines were located, was in an out of sight area. He like to catch our clerks with their hands full to get a quick feel. He squeezed the butt of a woman who had a whole ream of legal sized permits in her hands. She wheeled and slapped him hard in the groin with the permits.
He went down in a heap. She looked down at him as she stepped over him saying, "If you ever touch me or so much as look at me, I. will. kill. you!" That's how I found out. He would pass by her desk with his head noticeably turned the other way. So I asked and she told me.
But that didn't stop him from molesting other women. He had relatives in high places that protected him. Finally one woman who worked for him filed federal charges against him. This went above his protection to corporate and he was gone.
I am a man who from childhood have what maybe a unique gift or something that many girls and women will confide in me as though I am one of them. I guess it's because I talk and listen to their faces.
question everything
(47,530 posts)I hope that these days such low lifers can get in the act.
wryter2000
(46,077 posts)"So, if she didn't report it at the time, that means it didn't happen?"
question everything
(47,530 posts)I can understand she, and others, would rather just erase this from their memory. Feeling ashamed, wondered whether there was something they've done. He probably would have claimed this.
But, as I commented, above, we have to learn from such events to empower women to call attention. And, today, someone would snap a photo with a smartphone.