The Story I Hope Finally Gets a Voice in the Midst of This Latest Sexual Harassment Fad

As a woman, I can count the number of times my rear end has been "brushed" or grabbed. Nor would I want to. Is it acceptable for anyone to violate another person like that- no. However, in our nation it is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. That means, I am not going to report a person to the authorities for grabbing my rear unless I have proof he or she did it intentionally. Court-worthy proof.
Now some lady is complaining that a guy sexually harassed her when he asked her to go to a hotel room with her. Really? I think that claim belittles the thousands (millions?) of women who are not given any choice and raped each year. I would love it if the United States enacted the death penalty for serial rapists. But just a guy asking you to go to his hotel should be a freedom of speech thing. Just ignore it or tell him to bug off or ask your superiors to discipline him. Or here's a better one- flat out tell him he is a creep, and he needs to knock it off because it isn't funny, and you aren't interested. Most guys are actually clueless when it comes to crossing the line verbally.

I have been what I classify as sexually harassed more than once in my life. Once was witnessed- but none of the witnesses did anything. The witnessed incident could have gone to court if I had pursued it, but would any of the witnesses have done anything. It was two other women who had probably been putting up with it much longer than I had (and probably much worse situations). I simply quit that job. Should have I hired a lawyer- I don't know. I was only 18. Would I hire a lawyer now and try to drag his name through the mud? Absolutely not. It is done. It is over. The witnesses have probably long forgotten the incident. What other reason could any woman have to come out for the first time after a statue of limitations is up and accuse a man of something like that? The only reason I can think of is to defame him and that is not real justice because if the incident did not happen the way you remember it there is nothing that will ever clear his name again.
But as more and more allegations of sexual assault appear, two things came to my mind. In many cases, only one or two women are coming forward. Please. If a guy is a womanizer, he does it to multiple women every day and there will be evidence. Why aren't more coming forward? Also, if a guy did this 20 or 30 years ago- has he changed? If he has, once again, should he be socially punished for issues he might have had when he was younger? In my opinion, if one of those issues was simply asking a woman to a hotel, I don't think the answer is yes. Rape- yes, always.

If you are raped, go to a hospital and get examined immediately. If you survive a rape, there is nothing that should prevent you from doing this. Begin the long trial process immediately. Get a rapist off the street. And politically we need to push for a death penalty for serial rapists. Most people who are raped end up committing suicide because of the rape-why shouldn't a rapist get the same penalty as a murderer? I guarantee men would think twice before forcing a woman to do something against her will if we started executing those who did.

My biggest complaint about these allegations and my biggest reason for disgust with everyone praising these women comes down to one person who really does deserve praise: Corey Feldman. Corey Feldman was sexually abused as a child actor by many men in Hollywood, and he has repeatedly tried to draw attention to this fact. But people have ignored him for years. Why isn't he touted as a brave man? Why isn't his story considered the first to bring out the problem with the Film Industry? Corey Feldman told police officers about these men years ago, but the police refused to investigate. Afterward, the men were both arrested for being pedophiles, and now are wanted men. How many children would have the police saved if they listened? My hope is that Corey will finally be able to draw attention to his cause.

Innocent until proven guilty - unless you have a blameless reputation...

Bill Cosby became the butt of a joke by a comedy writer who has been given plenty of opportunities to make an independent name for himself (including being a writer for Saturday Night Live) but just isn't funny (only one of the skits he wrote during the entire year was good enough to be aired). Sadly, his joke/accusation is just bringing up more hurt for a man who has built his career on being a good father, good husband, and telling only clean jokes (a far more difficult path than the one taken by the accusing comedian).

Over the years, women have come forward stating that Bill Cosby raped them. None of them have ever provided any evidence of this and many waited a year or more to bring forward the accusations. Some have waited so long that the statute of limitations has run out - not even allowing Bill Cosby a chance to go to trial and show his innocence. Bill Cosby has never been indicted for rape. Period.

Most, if not all, of these women state that their agent introduced them (as aspiring models) to Bill Cosby personally. At least one of the named agents said that was not how it worked - the agent sent photos and videos to Bill of potential candidates for his show and Bill would screen them. From what I know of Hollywood, he would have then had his people contact the person and bring him or her in for an audition. Instead, these women all claim he drugged them. Surprisingly, one states after being drugged once, she returned and allowed him to drug her at least two more times. None of these women reported the incident to the police. None even recorded the evidence in a journal at the time. At least one has a published memoir, but she did not put the rape incident in it. None have given any evidence aside from "what they remember" and none have any collaboration of their particular stories. In other words, it is Bill Cosby's word against these women.

Although some accusations have apparently come up before, only now in the age of the Internet when rumors are accepted as facts is this unnamed (by my choice - who wants to give a bad comedian any more publicity than what he has already managed to get) comedian's bad publicity stunt turned into a guilty sentence for Cosby.