How Eric Swalwell reminded an entire political party that we’re not exempt from sexual abuse.
This week: A guest post by Ruby Sachs.
For the last decade, since Donald Trump was first elected, the word on the street has been that sex crimes are associated mainly with one political party: Republicans.
But, for anyone who has been assaulted, harassed, or raped by “one of the good guys” (i.e. someone who appears to be trustworthy, unprejudiced, and kind), Eric Swalwell’s crimes come not as a surprise, but rather a surprise judgement day for the oft-overlooked sexual offenders who hide behind a veil of pseudo-morality.
These predators have been protected by their political standing, their purported worldviews, and their high ranking on the “good guy” scale. It’s a lot easier to conceal your crimes and convince your victims that they are alone in their experience when you have successfully convinced a lot of people that you actually care about other humans, specifically women. It also serves to convince survivors that the onus is on them for causing a moral blight on your otherwise clean resume, since you are such a good person.
For some, it might be challenging to imagine someone who fights for women’s rights and equality as a serial sexual offender. But, for those of us who have experience, this is the least surprising series of events.
Eric Swalwell is just one strain of a virus within the Democratic Party, and within literally every facet of American society. Within any group — “good guys” present or not — there have always been those who take advantage and abuse their power.
Donald Trump has done disgusting things, which he talks about not with discretion but rather with pride, mockery, and vulgarity.
But the Swalwell case demonstrates that Democrats aren’t exempt from Donald Trump’s views on women and what some believe is a man’s right to take from a woman.
Which is no surprise. Across the board, no matter what field you work in, there are always men who think this way. I don’t say that as a guess or as a cynical belief, but based on personal experience across different work, academic, and social contexts, and also the experiences of nearly every single woman that I know.
As we were all just reminded, it’s not a matter of if sexual predators exist within the Democratic party, it’s a matter of who and how many of them there are.
There absolutely has to be significant change if we want to stop hearing stories like this. There will always be people using their access to power as a means of taking advantage of others, but the infrastructure for reporting and holding them accountable needs a complete overhaul. Because right now, the infrastructure basically doesn’t exist. When a survivor has to choose between their career, livelihood, and dreams or telling their story with the miniscule chance that they will be believed and their abuser be held accountable– that shows us that our current process for dealing with sexual abuse is totally corrupt.
Sexual abuse has no party or political affiliation. It’s not a Democratic or Republican issue. It can happen anywhere, and it most definitely does. Even if you don’t personally see it.
Why on earth did it take so long for this story about Eric Swalwell to hit the news cycle?
Why did it take so long for these women’s stories, that they’ve been telling for years, to be heard?
Something is very, very wrong.
And I assure you that Eric Swalwell is but a single drop in the bucket. This is nowhere close to being over. We will continue to manufacture Eric Swalwells, and some of them will undoubtedly make it into elected office.
Some already have.
Eric Swalwell is not an outlier, he is not special, and he is not a surprise.
So let’s stop with the theatrics already. I think a lot of us are sick of the feigning shock when things like this keep happening. Of course they are happening. Nothing meaningful ever changes to prevent them from happening.
If you were one of the people that knew this was going on and chose to turn a blind eye to protect your income, professional standing, or the status quo, you now have to live with that and the knowledge that you were a fundamental part of why this happened and continued to happen.
And now you need to make another choice: What’s the last straw going to be before you step up?
Once it happens to you or someone you know and love?
Only you can answer that.
Ruby’s take on Democratic politics is informed by her belief that we need to communicate more honestly and effectively if we want to win more in the future. It’s time to develop an approach and a vision that lands with today’s voters.