Adam Cruttenden 1

Sexual Harassment
Adam S. Cruttenden
26 March 2018
English 12: British Literature
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Introduction to Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault:

Sexual harassment and sexual assault have resurfaced as some of the largest epidemics in

this country's history. They are brutal and awful thing that occur, but to fully understand what

they incase, there is a definition from a legal website:

"Sexual Harassment Law and Legal Definition. Sexual harassment occurs when a person is
subject to unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical
conduct of a sexual nature to such an extent that it alters the conditions of the person's
employment and creates an abusive working environment." (Definition.uslegal.com)

This definition is the perfect explanation to fully understand what is happening when someone

either claims they were sexually Harassed or is accused for this crime. Another definition from

the book Law of Violence Against Women by Margaret C. Jasper states,

"Sexual assault is a general term which refers to a number of sex-related offenses, including

rape, sexual contact, and indecent exposure. Sexual assault involves the commission of those acts

against another who is either unwilling to consent, or who lacks the physical, mental, or legal

capacity consent e.g. a minor" (27 Jasper).

This quote describes the term sexual assault which is like sexual harassment but are two

different terms. The two differ because harassment is not encountering the other person

inappropriately, it is more when you create unwelcome advances or other. Assault on the other

hand, is when one would come in contacts with another person and doing improper things to this

person.

With that being said, The Law of Violence Against Women states that, " in 1995, victims

reported to an estimated 260,310 complete or attempt rapes and 94,580 sexual assaults" (27

Jasper). This is a very surprising statistic since this large of a number had occurred in 1995.

Almost thirty years has passed since that statistic and now the number has rose to over 320,000
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(Rainn.org). This is an appalling sight to witness, a rise in over 43 percent since 1995. Since this

number has sky rocketed from 25 years ago, there have been multiple cases that have just

recently come out in show business. The two major cases that were talked about were Bill

Cosby, and Harvey Weinstein. These two started the sexual allegations and led to the trials of

both these disturbed men.

On October 8, 2017, Harvey Weinstein was released from his company, Weinstein

Company. He was accused of sexual assault of multiple different women. Although these assault

accusations were made, they stated in the newspaper article Harvey Weinstein is Fired After

Sexual Harassment Report that, "The sexual harassment allegations uncovered by The Times

stretched back decades and came from actresses as well as former employees of the Weinstein

Company and Miramax" (New York times Twohey). This means that the accusations on

Weinstein were not from the recent years, but from years prior and were very common from him.

These assault accusations cause an uproar in the news. A quote from the executive producer of

HBO’s show “girls” states, “I see this as a tipping point… This is the moment we look back on

and say, that’s when it all started to change” (New York Times Twohey). This quote saddens the

community because since these sexual allegations have come to fruition, multiple other

celebrities have come out in this way.

The other of the accused was Bill Cosby. He was accused of “roofying” girls. This is the

act of putting sleeping pills or pill that will cause hallucinations in a person’s drink causing them

to either be on conscious or not at full brain activity. This is a terrible crime that was committed

by the long-time actor and comedian Bill Cosby and was the first well know accusation of rape

during the recent years. An employee of Cosby’s work stated that, “There was no knowledge on

my part about [Bill Cosby’s] specific actions, but... There was just energy. And that type of
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sinister, shadow energy cannot be concealed” (Dailymail.co). These assault charges were place

on Cosby in the beginning of 2017 and have lingered over into 2018.

Argument for Sexual Harassment:

The main argument for the crime of sexual harassment and assault was showcased

thoroughly through the #metoo stance, and how multiple different people from show business

have come out saying that they have been sexually harassed or assaulted. These allegations have

been the headline of 2017 and are falling over into 2018 as well. This is leading to problem in the

world, but mostly in the United States show business. These problems are that people need to be

accountable for their actions and should be professional in the work place. This has not been

occurring and has made shocking headlines over the recent year.

Since this problem has just resurfaced over the last three years, there have been hundreds

of different accusations of sexual harassment in show business and sports. There have been

numerous articles speaking on the different cases of sexual misconduct occurring, and ground-

breaking information about the disturbing actions that have occurred. Some of the actors that

have been accused are as listed, Nelly, Aziz Ansari, James Franco, T.J. Miller, and many more.

These actors have been said to assaulting co-workers, friends, love interests, and even college

friends. One instance is listed in the online article Hollywood Stars Accused of Sexual Assault

that says, “T.J. Miller was accused of sexually assaulting a former friend from college and

punching her in the mouth during sex” (Nydailynews.com). This is a gruesome statement and

shows how disturbing it is to be fallen victim of sexual assault. Not only did this college friend
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continue to speak to Miller, she still trusted him. In a quote, she states, “I couldn’t bring myself

to believe that this had happened” (nydailynews.com).

Another example of this sexual misconduct occurred when a woman had filed a lawsuit

to the Los Angeles Supreme Court in December accusing Kiss bassist Gene Simmons of

“Making sexually-charged comments to her during an on-camera interview, grabbing her hand

and placing it on his knee, and touching her butt during a photo opportunity” (nydailynew.com).

This shows that not only do actors/actresses commit these offenses, but rock stars and bands also

have instances of sexual misconduct. This allegation was recently made and will be followed up

in the adjacent months.

The third allegation on people in show business is on former contest of the “Voice”

Melanie Martinez. This charge shows that not only can sexual misconduct occur from a male,

but females can also cause problems in the work place. She was accused of raping her best friend

Timothy Heller, in early December. Heller states that “Martinez touch her without permission,

and preformed nonconsensual oral sex on her” (nydailynews.com). These disturbing acts were

occurring without consent and led to allegations against this singer.

Other than show business, athletes have also been accused of doing these terrible crimes.

A major case that occurred in sports was off the former US Olympic gymnastics osteopathologist

Larry Nassar. This man was charged with over 150 cases of sexual misconduct while his time as

an Olympic doctor. He was also told to have thousands of photographs, “ Nassar, 53, is also

charged in federal court with possession of child pornography — more than 37,000 images,

including Go Pro video he allegedly made himself ”(nbcnews.com). This is a disgusting act of

sexual misconduct in the sports world and caused many others to come out against their

doctors and physicians.

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Another major case is a trial of sexual assault from Jameis Winston. He was allegedly

accused of “grabbing an Uber drivers crotch” (nydailynew.com) and of raping a female student

while his time in college at Florida State. Both of his trials had ended due to a lack of evidence

but were a large headline in the NFL.

Overall, the accusations of all these people were only a few examples of this happening

in our worldly news. This is showcasing that sexual misconduct occurs daily in the world of

sports and show business.

Counterargument for Sexual Harassment: Fraudulent Cases

Although there are thousands of sexual assault cases brought to the worlds attention

yearly, there are also multiple different events where the case being brought forward is false, or

fraudulent. This does not occur as common as real cases, however, there are a few large cases

that occurred that were found to be fraud.

The first and largest case that was found out to be fraudulent would be the Duke Lacrosse

team trials. During an off-campus lacrosse team party in 2006, strippers were ordered, and asked

to be either white or Hispanic. When these dancers had shown up and neither were white or

Hispanic, they were targeted with different racial slurs, and one of them accused three lacrosse

players of raping her in the bathroom. Once this information had been released, it had made it to

world wide new. However, this accuser was charged with the crime of murdering her ex-

boyfriend. Once these allegations had been made public, the Duke University lacrosse team had

been put to trial on charges of sexual assault and harassment. Yet, the Duke lacrosse team was

found not guilty in this trial and then pressed charges of their own on Durham. “The lawsuit

sought punitive and compensatory damages along with reforms in the way criminal cases are
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handled by the police department and the prosecutor's office” (Thoughtco.com). Once these both

had occurred the Duke grand jurors were having second thoughts on their decision, but their

charges were officially dropped. Then, a bombshell had hit. The rape accuser had become

pregnant. This caused pandemonium throughout the case. The Duke trials to be reinstated but

would soon end after a DNA test sample said that this was none of the accused boys.

The second example of this false accusation occurred at Sacred Heart University. A

woman had falsely accused two football players of raping her during a football party in October

as stated by nydailynew.com’s report. It was said however, that many had over heard her stating

that she wanted to have sex with these men and was then found as lying due to a love interest in

another man. It was stated that, “"She admitted that she made up the allegation of sexual assault

against (the football players) because it was the first thing that came to mind and she didn’t want

to lose (another male student) as a friend and potential boyfriend,"” Therefore, she had lied so

that another student who she found attractive would still be a potential boyfriend. This is a

terrible act to commit and can ruin another person’s life by doing this.

Overall, the act of fraud in sexual misconduct can lead to the accuser being in a large

amount of trouble and can lead to major problems in years to come.

The Catholic Church's Stance on Sexual Harassment:

Throughout the history of the Catholic church, the clergy men and women have spoken

on the different issues and events that have occurred involving sexual harassment and assault.

These issues are usually hot button problems in our world right now and they needed to be
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discussed by the church. The church then puts their opinion out to the world so that the followers

can also take this opinion. Therefore, since the recent rise of sexual harassment and assault

claims have risen tremendously, this issue was spoken on by the pope and church.

The first instance found of the Catholic Churches stances on sexual misconduct was by

the Pope who was very thorough in his opinion. He states in an online newspaper, “Pope Francis

has told bishops around the world they must adhere to a policy of “zero tolerance” for clergy

who sexually abuse children and begged forgiveness for “a sin that shames

us””(Thegaurdian.com). This stance by the Pope states that he will not allow this of this and

want to work for it to stop completely. The Catholic church is stereotyped as a corrupt system in

which the clergymen were known to sexually assault young children. This was shown through

the movie “Spotlight”. This movie went in depth on the sexual misconduct occurring in Catholic

Churches that are in America. Before the final credits, there was a long list of different churches

throughout the United States; and in these parishes, there were different allegations of sexual

misconduct which went on for 2-3 minutes. This is an appalling sight, which shows the epidemic

that is soring across the world. Pope Francis also says, ““[The church] recognises the sins of

some of her members: the sufferings, the experiences and the pain of minors who were abused

sexually by priests. It is a sin that shames us,” Francis wrote in the letter” (Theguardian.com).

This quote also shows how the Catholic Church is very embarrassed of this epidemic and will do

anything to stop this from happening. This epidemic has only been on the rise and someone

needs to stand up and let these people know that this is not acceptable. Therefore, the Pope wants

to be that man. Since he is the leader of the Church, he has the most influence in the Catholic

Church so hopefully people will listen to him and follow his lead because he is only going to

lead us toward God.

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My Stance on Sexual Harassment: What I Think of Sexual Harassment

This epidemic that has spread across our nation is a vital problem and I believe that all of

use need to stick together and stop it. This problem is also countered with the lies and false

accusations of rape on men. This means that people are accusing others of rape or sexual

misconduct, but it does not really happen. With the amount of sexual misconduct cases being

recorded people are now thinking they can falsely accuse someone even though the culprit is not

committing a crime. “somewhere between 2 and 8 percent of the truth. That’s how many reports

of rape are estimated to be false, based on analysis of several rigorous studies that attempted to

answer that question” (24 Harding). This quote from “Asking for it” by Kate Harding states the

statistic of false rapes that are recorded in the United States. Although two to eight percent seems

very miniscule, it still is a very large number of false accusations. This is in my opinion equally

as bad as raping. They should both be considered very terrible crimes and be sent to prison for

both. If a woman accuses a man of rape, this man could be sent to jail for life, even though he did

not do that act.

Another problem I have with the issue of sexual misconduct allegations are that some

stars that are coming out in part of the “#metoo” movement were harassed or assaulted 20 plus

years ago. This is also a large problem. I am confused as to why these stars did not come out and

say this when it occurs and not when everyone else is. If the stars had done this, maybe there

would not be as many sexual misconduct allegations in acting. I understand that they might be

scared or nervous as to what would come from speaking out when it occurred but if you did this

then it could lead a movement 20 years ago so that it would not have to occur now with even

more rape cases.

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Overall, these two issues can hopefully be resolved in the future of Hollywood and the

world. I also hope that they can be stopped, and that people stop false accusations on the

innocent.

Conclusion to Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault:

Throughout this report, there have been multiple different opinions on the topic of sexual

harassment and assault. These topics have ranged from people should be sentenced to life to the

accuser was lying. However, this rampant needs to be stopped. People should not be afraid to go

to work because they are being mistreated or need to be walked to their car by a man once their

job shift is over. This should never have happened in the first place, but it needs to end

immediately. This is a tough thing to stop in this world due to all the violence and corruption that

has already taken place, but if stopped, it would change the world.
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Boroff, David. “Woman, 18, Falsely Accused Two Football Players of Rape: Cops.” NY Daily News,
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