The Weinstein Effect: Sexual Assault on the Radar

J. Plascencia

Everyone knows about Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood film producer destroyed in the press by allegations of rape and sexual harassment by A-list actresses such as Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Angelina Jolie.

All it took was one woman to find the courage to speak out and share her experience to start a chain reaction, and now more than 40 women have stepped forward and told their stories. This unfortunate news has led people to start having conversations about what is a very real and serious crime not only in Hollywood, but all over the country -- even here at Las Lomas.

Sexual harassment is a deeply rooted problem in our culture and affects all people regardless of race, gender, age, or sexual orientation.

According to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) every 98 seconds an American is victim to sexual assault. One in six women and one in thirty three men in the US has been a victim to attempted or completed rape during their lifetime. On average, there are 321,500 victims of rape/sexual assault each year in the United States.

Sexual assault is defined as “any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient” by the United States Department of Justice.

Since the Harvey Weinstein case was recently brought to light, people who have been sexually harassed or assaulted have been tweeting #metoo to show the magnitude of sexual assault in our society. The fact that this hashtag has reached 85 different countries and been tweeted about 1.7 million times proves how widespread this problem is.

Most often abuse occurs in relationships when there is a power imbalance, such as teacher and student, manager and employee, producer and actor/actress, or adult and child. This is because the dynamic enables one person to violate the other without the fear of being reprimanded since he/she/they are in the position of power.

A victim is less likely to “tell on someone” who is their superior due to shame and guilt. The abuse, therefore, is likely to continue. The victim also experiences confusion and feelings of mistrust of the entire system because he/she/they have come to find that those boundaries can be violated.

If you are or know of someone who is suffering from sexual abuse, know that you are not alone and there ARE resources available for you to seek help. This is NOT something that you should keep to yourself. Here at Las Lomas, you have some options when it comes to finding resource to confide in. “The first thing I would say is go to your counselor. Counselors are trained to deal with something like this (sexual harassment cases). And counselors also have that confidentiality code, so if it was something that you didn’t feel comfortable with the administration knowing, because remember, when we know, we have to then act, then you could go to your counselor. You could also make an appointment with the mental health intervention specialist which are on campus. And the newest thing that I would really like to put out there, is the wellness center. If someone is suffering from anything, but especially if they are being sexually harassed, they can definitely go to the wellness center and ask to speak to someone privately,” said Associate Principal Dave Granzotto.