It has been less than 24 hours since a video surfaced in which Donald Trump boasts of how he likes to “grab” women “by the pussy.” But women around the world are now coming forward on social media and sharing their own horrifying stories of sexual abuse.
Friday evening, Canadian author Kelly Oxford started a Twitter thread and encouraged women to reply with the first time they were ever sexually assaulted, to show that “they aren’t just stats.”
Women: tweet me your first assaults. they aren't just stats. I'll go first:
Old man on city bus grabs my "pussy" and smiles at me, I'm 12.
— kelly oxford (@kellyoxford) October 7, 2016
The response has been overwhelming, and also terrifying. Keep in mind that it’s estimated one in five women have been sexually assaulted at some point in their life. 20 percent of women have been treated as if they are nothing more than an object for the pleasure of another person. Here are some of the responses to Oxford’s initial tweet:
.@kellyoxford I was 11. An older boy walked me home, turned around w/ his dick out. I just realized: I have no memory of what happened next.
— Emily Lindin (@EmilyLindin) October 8, 2016
@CherylStrayed soccer coach discretely groped my boobs while demonstrating how not to block someone in gym class. I was 13.
— Kate Spencer (@katespencer) October 8, 2016
https://twitter.com/SayWhatSugar/status/784541877810892804
so many I can't remember the first one. And didn't know it was assault until very recently. "Boys will be boys" I was told.
— ????? ???? (@AngieAway) October 8, 2016
12 yo in the back of station wagon for car pool. on a dare, classmate unhooks my bra. I spend ride redfaced while boys giggle
— lisabelkin (@lisabelkin) October 8, 2016
Age 13, crowd-surfed at a music festival. Ended up with many much older men's hands down my pants and up my shirt.
— Emma Gray (@emmaladyrose) October 8, 2016
.@kellyoxford I was forced to give a guy a blow job after he offered me a ride home and then threatened me. I was 14.
— Sasha Stone (@AwardsDaily) October 8, 2016
Ski school worker took me away from the other kids and ‘tickled’ me. Groped my vagina. Told me not to tell. 4 years old.
— Kaitlin ?sKelly? (@caitidh) October 7, 2016
I was 10, he was my babysitter. Told me he was training me for boys when I got older.
— Laurenn McCubbin (@laurennmcc) October 8, 2016
Older brother of a junior high school friend made me go down on him when I was wasted on wine coolers. He was 18. I was 12.
— Christy Lemire (@christylemire) October 8, 2016
walking home from school and 4 boys grab me, take turns grabbing my body. I laugh because I like them and want to play it off.
— (((BOO!nibrowser))) (@madfoot) October 8, 2016
8 yrs old, my cousin cornered me in a bedroom & "grabbed my pussy." I kicked him & tried to tell my aunt, she called me a liar.
— Scare-icaJoy (@EricaJoy) October 8, 2016
There are literally thousands more of these on Twitter, and each one makes me cringe. As the father young girl, I live in fear that something will happen to her, that she might not be safe each and every second of each and every day. Then I read these tweets and I cannot help but feel sad, angry, and even despondent. Why is it that we seem to value the feelings and bodies of women less than we do those of men? Why is this so commonplace?
No matter what Donald Trump does or says from this point forward, he has added to this list of victims. And for that, he should hide his head in shame for the remainder of his pathetic life.
Featured Image Via YouTube Screengrab
