Thousands of women have shared their experiences of sexual assault and rape culture on Twitter in the wake of Donald Trump’s comments about grabbing women “by the pussy”.
Amid the outrage over Trump’s remarks, Canadian writer Kelly Oxford called on women to tweet about their first assaults, describing the first time she was sexually assaulted, on a bus when she was 12. Oxford went on to describe a total of five sexual assaults.
Women: tweet me your first assaults. they aren't just stats. I'll go first:
— kelly oxford (@kellyoxford) October 7, 2016
Old man on city bus grabs my "pussy" and smiles at me, I'm 12.
The response to her tweet was overwhelming, with Oxford saying she was received replies at the rate of 50 per minute for 14 hours. “Anyone denying rape culture,” she wrote, “look at my timeline now.”
I posted my assault, asked women to share theirs, thinking "if no one discusses I'll pull it down." 9.7million later pic.twitter.com/h1y7iIiU7M
— kelly oxford (@kellyoxford) October 9, 2016
Many of the attacks took place when the women involved were minors.
@kellyoxford 35yr old hairdresser offers 2 drive me home. Shoves his tongue down my throat. I'm 15. He'd been cutting my hair since I was 9.
— Rachelle Lefevre (@RachelleLefevre) October 8, 2016
@kellyoxford #1 10 years old gymnastics coach grabbed me by the 'pussy'.
— Helen Austin (@helenaustin) October 9, 2016
@kellyoxford my 1st is similar to yours. Old man on city bus grabbed my pussy. I was 8 and my parents were sitting two rows behind me.
— Solange (@ihrtreid) October 8, 2016
The stories, which can be viewed on her timeline, included a litany of all kinds of sexual abuse suffered by women, including rape.
@kellyoxford During my 2nd month in the military a supervisor raped me n my barracks room (the day before Thanksgiving). I was 19 years old.
— Monica (@MsMonica_E) October 8, 2016
Oxford said the volume of the responses had left her in “horrendous shock” and called on Americans not to ignore their testimony.
3 hours ago I asked women to tweet me about their sexual assault & rape. 3 hours later, new women sharing- every second #notokay
— kelly oxford (@kellyoxford) October 8, 2016
I am in such horrendous shock and yet so proud of the women sharing their assaults. #notokay is trending in US. Not our shame anymore ❤️
— kelly oxford (@kellyoxford) October 8, 2016
women have tweeted me sexual assault stories for 14 hours straight. Minimum 50 per minute. harrowing. do not ignore. #notokay
— kelly oxford (@kellyoxford) October 8, 2016
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. Hotlines in other countries can be found here.
