Since Friday, Donald Trump and his campaign surrogates have had the same measured response to his leaked hot mic conversation: a non-apology and an acknowledgment that though the language was "lewd" and "offensive, " it was strictly "locker room" talk. Women who've experienced sexual harassment or assault in their lifetimes are taking to Twitter to voice their disagreement.
On Friday night, author Kelly Oxford asked women on Twitter to share their experiences with sexual assault. She started by sharing her own.
"Women: tweet me your first assaults. They aren't just stats," she said. "I'll go first: Old man on city bus grabs my 'pussy' and smiles at me, I'm 12."
Women: tweet me your first assaults. they aren't just stats. I'll go first:
— kelly oxford (@kellyoxford) October 7, 2016
Old man on city bus grabs my "pussy" and smiles at me, I'm 12.
What follows are the heartrending tales behind the statistics. Women shared stories about the time that a relative, soccer coach, coworker, or total stranger assaulted them — sometimes by much older men when the women themselves were still pre-pubescent. Out of respect for the survivors, we've only linked to their posts here rather than sharing their names and Twitter handles in this post. You can see the millions of stories on Oxford's timeline, right here.
"Husband of the family I baby sat for, touched me when he came home early one night. I was 12 yrs old. I never told anyone," wrote one woman.
"First, HS forced kiss. Second, rape by public safety officer in college," wrote another.
"At 15 I had chest X-ray at Children's Hospital, doctor kept showing me where my nipple was on the X-ray, smiling, rubbing it," said another woman. She's just one of several women who share stories about doctors taking advantage of them — at ages 14, 13, and even at age 8.
According to Oxford, as many as a million women tweeted in response to her #NotOkay post. "Women have tweeted me sexual assault stories for 14 hours straight. Minimum 50 per minute,"she tweeted later. "Harrowing. do not ignore."
women have tweeted me sexual assault stories for 14 hours straight. Minimum 50 per minute. harrowing. do not ignore. #notokay
— kelly oxford (@kellyoxford) October 8, 2016
For many hours, the hashtag #NotOkay was a trending topic on Twitter. Days later, it's still going strong. The lesson here should be clear: Rape culture is very real. It touches the lives of millions of women. Contrary to some beliefs, it's #NotOkay.
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