Since the tape of Donald Trump saying he can sexually assault women because of his fame leaked, at least 10 women have come forward saying Donald groped or assaulted them. The video also sparked a nation-wide discussion on sexual assault that hasn't been entirely nice or supportive.
On Tuesday, a bunch of women and a handful of celebrities spoke up against Donald and sexual assault by sharing their own stories of harassment and assault, and condemning Donald's comments as "not ok," according to The Hill. In a touching video put out by the pro-Hillary Clinton campaign Humanity for Hillary, celebrities including Meryl Streep, Amy Schumer, Lena Dunham, and Amber Tamblyn join in to highlight how damaging Trump's attitude of entitlement can be. What Trump said isn't "just words," the video says, it's an attitude that hurts real people.
"I think people like Donald Trump will never understand the correlation that women understand between words and actions,” Amber said in the video. “Especially when you’re a man in a position of power and you talk that way publicly, you are telling the world that it’s okay to behave that way.”
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Dismissing his comments as "locker room talk" reduces how serious rape culture is. Rape culture is the idea that men have the right to sex with women whenever they want. While that sounds like a big claim, rape culture shows up when we blame the victim, when we laugh at rape jokes, and any time we contribute to that idea in a big or small way. Donald contributes to that idea every single time he tries to explain away his statement that he can "grab [women] by the pussy" because he's famous.
Girls and women shared the effect of that idea on them when they told their own sexual assault stories.
"On the second day of my freshman year of college, I was raped," one woman said.
"It angered me so much," another added.
"Violated and confused," one woman said of how she felt after her assault.
"I was really shaken, i didn't know what to do," another said.
"That was the first time I had been touched," a woman said. "I knew my body wasn't safe after that."
Hearing Trump and others basically say sexual assault is OK can be triggering for survivors, and deeply disturbing to others. One girl really summed it up in the video.
"What are we supposed to do?" she said. "You're talking about harassing us like that's OK."
That's when Meryl, Amy, Lena and others chimed in. "Not OK," they said.
Sexual assault is not OK, and neither is talking about it like a joke.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can seek help by calling the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673). For more resources on sexual assault, visit RAINN, End Rape on Campus, Know Your IX, and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
__Related: __ Women Share Rape Stories in Response to Donald Trump’s Disgusting Comments
