Donald Trump’s lewd remarks open floodgates on sex assault culture

A powerful man’s boastful description of manhandling women’s bodies has spurred thousands of survivors to share their experiences, writes Beth J Harpaz

ON FACEBOOK and Twitter, on the phone and on the job, from living rooms to hair salons, Donald Trump’s “Grab ‘em by the pussy” comment has unleashed a tsunami of stories from women sharing painful memories of sexual assaults.

Many of these women were grabbed by the genitals — exactly as Trump described doing — by men who fled or melted into a crowd. Some women were molested as children on a playground or school bus. Others were groped on a train or dance floor. They’ve told of attacks getting out of taxis, harassment in the workplace, and rapes on college campuses. Many shared their experiences for the first time in the days since the video of Trump’s comments aired, while others have been exorcising their demons for a long time on blogs or in therapy.