Harvey Weinstein was terminated from The Weinstein Company on Sunday, Oct. 8 over allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. Throughout the following week, more than 30 women have come forward with allegations of sexual harassment and assault.
The allegations from the alleged victims show a 30-year pattern of a man using his power and status to sexually prey on young women in Hollywood.
These patterns have been other men in the media, such as Bill Cosby, Bill O’Reilly and Roger Ailes.
But why does it take so many years for these alleged sexual predators to be stopped?
Sexual assault and harassment on college campuses often go unnoticed too. Many times, women feel that they may be retaliated against if they report the attacks.
St. John’s University, like other college campuses across the country, attempts to educate students on improper sexual behavior.
Incoming freshman watch “skits” of what to do if their friend is drunk and may possibly be taken advantage of.
They also go over the steps to report to an assault. There still is this stigma of sexual harassment and assault.
Young women are asked what they were wearing or if they gave the wrong impression. Was it really sexual harassment or did you misinterpret their “compliment”?
The discussions about sexual assault become more prevalent when cases like Weinstein’s come out.
But why does it take such extreme instances to showcase that, as a society, we have a problem addressing “rape culture”?
In 2015, model and actress Ambra Battilana Gutierrez met with Weinstein to discuss a possible role.
She alleged to police that he groped her and the following day she wore a wire during another meeting with him, according to the New York Times.
The Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., did not press charges after a two-week investigation.
The sad truth is that it happens too often.
Women across the country go through the process of rape kits just to have them sit in evidence logs.
We need to continue this conversation and spotlight sexual assault. Instances like Weinstein’s made it a national conversation.
But eventually people find something else to discuss.
All of these instances bring attention to the issue but we tend to overlook why it keeps occurring. We are not educating young people about proper behavior nor do we hold those responsible for their actions accountable.
We are constantly told the issues with our generation, but we can be the generation that teaches those that come after us that sexual assault is not acceptable.
That is, if someone commits any sort of sexual assault, they will be held responsible.Otherwise what are we teaching them?
The cycle of assault needs to stop, and we need to take on that task of stopping it.
We need to make a change, so 30 years in the future we are not reading about prolonged cases of sexual assault and harassments.
