By Louise Godbold, Pacific Standard, August 1, 2019
It is now almost two years since I added my voice to the brave women reporting the sexual violence of Harvey Weinstein. (Weinstein has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct.) In that time, I have had the privilege of getting to know many silence breakers—not only women targeted by Weinstein, but also those coming forward about Bill Cosby, James Toback, Dustin Hoffman, Donald Trump, and R. Kelly. Women (and some men) come to me because of my trauma knowledge, and because I'm a fellow survivor and I get it.
One consequence of coming forward about a high-profile abuser is media attention. Often, our interactions with the people who claim to be helping us "get our story out there" have ended up resurfacing feelings of exploitation and powerlessness that are associated with the original trauma.
I have been asked to take part in several documentaries about Weinstein. On one memorable occasion, I spent three and a half hours in front of the camera in my usual attempt to link my story to the mind-blowing science about the impacts of trauma. As usual, my interview was edited down to 15 seconds and detailed only the body parts Weinstein attempted to grope.
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