Last month, millions of Americans tuned in to watch Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony against Brett Kavanaugh when she calmly and sincerely recounted the attempted rape she survived as a teenager. Dr. Ford and her testimony have been largely viewed as credible. Anita Hill and women who have added their voices and stories to the #MeToo movement paved the way for that moment. Sexual harassment and assault are now part of mainstream discourse, and it’s increasingly difficult to deny how heartbreakingly common they are.
I recently met a woman — let’s call her Crystal — who shared her story of sexual harassment with me. A man in a position of power made explicit and unwanted sexual advances toward her, threatening her sense of safety. Crystal reported the misconduct to no avail. Like so many sexual harassment cases, the investigative team “took the allegations very seriously,” yet they found no reason to take disciplinary action against her aggressor.
While Crystal’s story echoes the themes of the #MeToo movement, Crystal is different from many of the women whose testimonies captured media attention because Crystal is experiencing homelessness. Furthermore, Crystal’s aggressor was someone who was an important gatekeeper for her: Her caseworker. When Crystal had her #MeToo moment, no one listened. For a year after she reported the misconduct, the case was not even given a proper investigation.
Crystal is not alone. People experiencing homelessness also experience higher rates of sexual violence and harassment.
A report released last year by the District of Columbia Interagency Council on Homelessness found more than half of survey respondents (54 percent) had experienced at least one type of violence in their current episode of homelessness, ranging from stalking to rape (the survey did not ask explicit questions about sexual harassment). Locally, a survey of Native American women in Seattle, conducted in 2010 but only recently released by the Urban Indian Health Institute, found nearly all (94 percent) were survivors of rape or attempted rape and about half of them were living houseless at the time of the survey. Despite how common these experiences are, very few women experiencing homelessness attempt to bring their attackers to justice. A 2005 report prepared for the U.S. Department of Justice titled “The Experience of Violence in the Lives of Homeless Women” found only about one in three women surveyed who experienced sexual assault or rape filed a report with the police.
For people dependent on social services, speaking out about sexual harassment and assault can mean sacrificing their own livelihoods.
Crystal was risking her access to resources such as housing and employment when she spoke out against her caseworker’s misconduct, in addition to facing the stigma and scrutiny other survivors endure when bringing forward such allegations.
The fact that sexual assault and harassment are finally being seen as serious offenses with consequences is a step in the right direction, but the work of the #MeToo movement will not be done until every survivor — regardless of gender, sexuality, race/ethnicity, citizenship status, ability, education, religion, socioeconomic status or housing status — is heard and taken seriously. We need to ensure our movements for justice are intersectional and include the resilient voices of the poor and disenfranchised. For people like Crystal experiencing homelessness and sexual harassment, I am listening. #MeToo.
Jess Mogk is a Master of Public Health and a community organizer and advocate. This piece was written with the permission of the person whose story is presented.
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