In the days following the release of a hot-microphone video of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump making lewd statements about women, people have turned to social media to express their outrage and sorrow.
Author Kelly Oxford began using the hashtag #notokay to encourage women to share their personal stories about sexual assault on Friday.
Women: tweet me your first assaults. they aren't just stats. I'll go first:
Old man on city bus grabs my "pussy" and smiles at me, I'm 12.
— kelly oxford (@kellyoxford) October 7, 2016
Within an hour, people were sharing multiple stories every second, Oxford said.
@kellyoxford
First time I was 8 or 9, in a swimming pool. A group of guys aged 14-16 swam by and one of them groped me down there.#notokay— Willemijn (@wilmijntje) October 9, 2016
@kellyoxford boss kissed the back of my neck while I was working. I froze. Felt dirty. Couldn't say a thing. #rapeculture #notokay
— Lisa Anne Gundry (@LisaGundry) October 10, 2016
@kellyoxford Raped fresh yr of college. Police said "don't mix beauty and booze" this is the first time I've publicly said that. #notokay
— Jillian Corsie (@JillianCorsie) October 8, 2016
Sometimes a grope. Sometimes a word. Sometimes just a slow, measured stare from top to bottom and back up again. #notokay
— Hillary Miller (@CricketArt67) 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
According to the Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network, in the United States, a woman is sexually assaulted every 109 minutes. Every eight minutes, the victim is a child.
Only six out of every 1,000 perpetrators will end up in prison, the organization reported.
RAINN also found that 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime.
Of those who reported sexual assault, victims reported doing the following:
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48 percent were sleeping, or performing another activity at home.
29 percent were traveling to and from work or school, or to shop or run errands.
12 percent were working
7 percent were in school
5 percent were doing a different activity
Despite these statistics, the rate of sexual assault and rape has fallen 74 percent since 1993, RAINN found.
ATHLETES OBJECT TO DEFINITION OF ‘LOCKER ROOM TALK’
In addition to women speaking out on the tape, male professional athletes have also objected to Trump’s characterization of his words as “locker room talk.”
Oakland A’s Pitcher Sean Doolittle said he’d never witness locker room talk in the vein of what was on the tape.
As an athlete, I've been in locker rooms my entire adult life and uh, that's not locker room talk.
— Sean Doolittle (@whatwouldDOOdo) October 10, 2016
Kansas City Chief Wide Receiver Chris Conley also objected.
Just for reference. I work in a locker room (every day)… that is not locker room talk. Just so you know…
— Chris Conley (@_flight17_) October 10, 2016
Have I been in every locker room? No. But the guys I know and respect don't talk like that. They talk about girls but not like that. Period.
— Chris Conley (@_flight17_) October 10, 2016
As did Jacob Tamme a tight end for the Atlanta Falcons.
The attempt to normalize it as any type of "talk" is wrong. I refuse to let my son think that this is "just how men speak" https://t.co/cdzLGAX2zs
— Jacob Tamme (@JacobTamme) October 10, 2016
It's not normal. And even if it were normal, it's not right. https://t.co/RQUWJJBSTn
— Jacob Tamme (@JacobTamme) October 10, 2016
Dahntay Jones a professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers also tweeted.
Claiming Trump's comments are "locker room banter" is to suggest they are somehow acceptable. They aren't.
— Dahntay (@dahntay1) October 9, 2016
As did Sage Jamen Rosenfels a former American football quarterback.
I was a 5 sport athlete in high school.
5 years of college football.
12 years in the NFL.
Guys don't talk like that in locker rooms. #Trump— Sage Rosenfels (@SageRosenfels18) October 8, 2016
Robbie Rogers, a professional soccer player with the L.A. Galaxy also weighed in.
I'm offended as an athlete that @realDonaldTrump keeps using this "locker room talk" as an excuse.
— Robbie Rogers (@robbierogers) October 10, 2016