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      E. Jean Carroll leaves a court building flanked by a man and woman in professional dress.

      E. Jean Carroll and Other Survivors Don't Need an Excuse for Not Screaming

      The millions of sexual assault survivors deserve our respect, support, and empathy, but never our pity.

      Carol Norris
      Apr 28, 2023

      The E. Jean Carroll vs. Donald Trump rape trial is, no doubt, eliciting a lot of understandable reactions in sexual assault survivors.* I'm a psychotherapist who, for years, has been privileged to work with many survivors. I used to consult to a rape crisis center. I don't need to hear one word of a trauma story to do trauma work, but I've heard countless stories. Stories of hope, of shame, of fear, of anger, of grief and betrayal. Stories of atrocious violence. Stories of glorious resilience.

      I've watched police be respectful and kind to someone as they're reporting their assault. I've also seen police be dismissive and blaming and horrible, forcing a person, often still in what is colloquially known as shock, to prove that the "encounter" was not consensual or that she was no somehow "asking for it." I've witnessed people become "disgusted" with their partners who were assaulted, and so they leave or divorce such "damaged goods." I've heard how friends no longer know how to talk to a person, treating them like they're fragile beyond measure or as if they're contagious and if you get too close then you'll somehow become infected. I've known employers who fired their employees because they didn't have a "legitimate" reason for taking time off from work to process and integrate such a fragmenting experience. I've heard how people have been excommunicated from previously close-knit families or neighborhoods because they dared to name that an uncle or a brother or a woman down the street was their perpetrator. There have been beautiful stories of solidarity and support, too. But all too often, contending with the shaming, cruel reactions from others adds very real trauma on top of trauma.

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      Opinion
      sexual violence
      Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer

      Bill Banning Forced Arbitration of Harassment Claims Heads to Biden's Desk

      Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said the bill would bring about "one of the most significant workplace reforms in the last 50 years."

      Julia Conley
      Feb 10, 2022

      Workers' rights advocates on Thursday applauded the U.S. Senate's passage of a bill to keep workplace sexual harassment victims from being forced into private litigation of their claims rather than taking them to court--a reform called "long overdue."

      "The arbitration process not only allows the corporations to hide sexual harassment and assault cases in this secretive and often biased process, but it shields those who committed serious misconduct from the public eye."

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      Rights & Justice
      McDonald's strikers

      McDonald's Workers Join 'Striketober' and Walk Out Over Sexual Harassment

      One striker participated because "McDonald's still refuses to take responsibility for the countless women and teenagers who face harassment on the job at its stores across the globe."

      Jessica Corbett
      Oct 26, 2021

      Amid of wave of worker walkouts that supporters are collectively calling "Striketober," McDonald's employees in at least 12 U.S. cities took to the streets Tuesday to raise concerns about how the fast food giant has handled sexual harassment and to demand a union.

      "No matter what McDonald's says, not much has changed for workers like me."

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