Anita F. Hill: Trump's information blackout on sexual assault
By Anita F. Hill OCTOBER 18, 2017
Countless reports of Harvey Weinstein’s horrendous behavior — some admitted, some denied — have been filed, thanks to the scores of brave women who have shared their often chilling stories. Yet President Trump condemned the movie mogul without as much as a mention of his accusers’ courage. Trump was, in his words, “not at all surprised” by the slew of rape, sexual assault, and harassment accusations against one of the most powerful men in Hollywood. And in nearly the same breath as his denunciation of Weinstein, Trump defended boasting about his own sexual predation, calling it “locker room.” Many women and men know that the behavior that Trump claimed as his celebrity entitlement is neither harmless nor permissible. Sadly, the president remains clueless about the toxicity of his own words.
Clearly, Trump’s authority to pass judgment on issues of sexual wrongdoing is severely compromised. But ignoring Weinstein’s accusers in his effort to excuse his own wrongdoing is inexcusable. Because of an outpouring of public support, the actors and others who Weinstein targeted will likely survive the affront. Thousands have joined the #MeToo Twitter campaign and told of experiences often shocking and just as often entirely familiar. What is more startling and offensive than Trump’s lack of concern for Weinstein’s accusers and those weighing in on social media is the official behavior of the Trump adminis-tration to stifle the voices of sexual assault survivors.
And the erasure of women’s realities is exactly what happened in August, when administration officials removed from the White House website a 2014 report issued by the Obama White House Council on Women and Girls. The report, “Rape and Sexual Assault: A Renewed Call to Action,’’ gives an overview of the problem of sexual assault, with particular emphasis on campus violence. It notes that 22 million women and 1.6 million men have been raped. It gives notice that certain populations are at higher risk of being raped or sexually assaulted, including women of color, people with disabilities, the LGBT community, prison inmates (of both genders), and the homeless.
Native American women were given specific attention, a long overdue acknowledgment of their struggles with gender violence. And the 38-page document offers much-needed guidance to institutions and law enforcement on how to keep people safe. This is all important information for addressing the challenges we face in eliminating, or at the very least reducing, the frequency of sexual abuse.
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