Why didn't you tell someone when it happened?

[ecstatic]

74. With regard to reporting groping (sexual assault)

The culture we live in doesn't really address groping, which is why most people don't view it as sexual assault or have any strategies in place for how to deal with it when it happens. As many of the women who have come forward have said, the thought of getting the authorities involved may not even cross your mind. When groped inappropriately, the options that might immediately come to mind are to either slap the guy or make a loud scene--if we're uncomfortable with those options, the third option is to do nothing. In my case, the option of calling the police didn't cross my mind until a few hours later--by then the man was long gone. By then, I was furious and shaming myself for not having physically attacked him in response.

Speaking of which... I think our culture puts an additional pressure/expectation on women to get into a physical altercation with a man who gropes / sexually assaults us--and any other response implies consent.