My local newspaper recently ran a week-long investigation into the sexual assault allegations made against the mayor of the small town, Windsor. While I initially found it odd that the San Francisco Chronicle would give the front page to this story while we’re still knee-deep in the middle of a pandemic, the more I thought about it, the more I understood and appreciated the Chronicle’s decision. Small town or not, this was a story that questioned the immunity that political leaders have flaunted in the face of serious allegations for long enough.
Since those articles were released, protesters have taken to the streets around Windsor, calling for the mayor, Dominic Foppoli, to resign. In an act of solidarity with the six women who bravely shared their stories, these protesters are dedicated to showing their support for the survivors while calling for Foppoli to be held accountable. And the most groundbreaking part? Other elected officials in the area have joined the protesters’ calls, including Foppoli’s own brother. But, like we’ve heard too many times before, Foppoli has denied the allegations and announced that he will only be “stepping back” from his mayoral duties, rather than officially passing his role to someone else.
It’s a waiting game at this point to see if Foppoli’s case will be investigated further, or if he will attempt to follow in the footsteps of so many politicians before him, continually denying the allegations and pushing the issue at hand under the carpet. But, I do say, with hope, that it seems like the San Francisco Chronicle’s decision to make this story widely distributed will help move this case in the right direction, where Foppoli will come to terms with the fact that his position of power does not keep him from facing consequences for his actions.
The same, however, cannot as easily be said for people who are closer to Capitol Hill, which reflects the disturbingly low levels of accountability that some of the United States’ top leaders face. Take for example Brett Kavanaugh, current Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Aside from being questioned by his peers in the televised Senate hearings, he has never faced any form of penalty for assaulting multiple women in the 80’s, despite convincing statements from his victims. In a move that truthfully only made him look more guilty, Kavanaugh responded to Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony with a cartoonish, twisted face of anger at the “harassment” he faced from the Democrats for trying to bar him from sitting on the Supreme Court. In cases like these, it feels like we’ve seen politicians distort sexual assault allegations in a way that reimagines them as the victim over and over again. It’s a lie. They’re being framed. It’s a politically-motivated ploy to make sure they don’t succeed.
This kind of response impacts survivors in detrimental ways, discrediting their experiences by forcing them into the antagonist’s shoes. When survivors come forward with their stories, they’re met with a tsunami of backlash for trying to “take a man down”. It’s happened enough times now that the pattern is clear, and I’m afraid that this response has become normalized. A survivor should not be met with skepticism and criticism from all corners of their life when they’re actively trying to warn others. Why would that be perceived as an attack? If a political leader murdered someone, would people be reacting in a similar way?
But that’s the problem – as a society, we don’t perceive rape as a true crime; it’s a gray area where most cases are dismissed due to the parties being intoxicated, as seen in Minnesota’s recently passed bill. It’s a crime that, while there are laws in place to prosecute rapists, they can still be manipulated by the defendant to somehow direct the blame back on the victim for letting the crime happen. Maybe it’s because women and transgender folks are more likely to be raped than men. Maybe it’s because sex is still found to be a “taboo”subject that isn’t talked about enough. Maybe it’s because it’s a social crime, frequently committed against people who know each other. The gray areas.
But, even when it feels like there’s all the evidence in the world to support an allegation, it doesn’t seem to be enough. In 2016, a tape was leaked of Donald Trump talking with Billy Bush from Access Hollywood. In that tape, the world was shocked to hear the presidential candidate boasting about kissing women and being able to “do anything” because he was a star. Out of the entire leaked video, people from both ends of the political spectrum hung onto these five words: “Grab em by the pussy”. To political opponents on the left, these words were a disturbing promotion of rape culture, where women were diminished to mere objects for a male to grab and control for his own pleasure. Those on the right became invigorated by the concept of a president speaking as freely and uncensored as possible, asserting his dominance over all of the other weak, scrawny politicians and “snowflakes” who could never match his masculinity.
Since 1970, 25 women have accused Trump of sexual assault. At this point, he has yet to face any charges. Due to this lack of accountability, a harmful message is spread that, if you are in power, you can do whatever you want. It’s like Trump said in those tapes: “Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.” It takes someone with a practically insurmountable amount of privilege to dodge all accusations with as much evidence as Trump has against him, which is more than enough of a reason for us to question why politicians are let off the hook so frequently, when they’re supposed to be the leaders. Of course, many despised Trump for these words (among countless other things), leading to the Women’s March, but, for as much as the masses fought back and stood with survivors, no real action was taken to hold Trump accountable in a way that would keep women safe.
While Trump’s cases may be a lost cause for now, the small city of Windsor offers a glimmer of hope for the future. If this case has proved anything, it’s that there will always be people prepared to support survivors and their stories and, the more political leaders and media outlets that offer that shared support, the more likely politicians will finally be held accountable and removed from their pedestal. That being said, the fact that not a single Republican has willingly spoken out against the Matt Gaetz scandal proves that these leaders need to remove politics from serious allegations and look at the matter at face value. It’s not that complicated: Politicians are adults. They should be treated as such when they make poor decisions that directly harm the people they were sworn in to serve.
Note: Since this article was written, Dominic Foppoli has officially resigned from his position as the mayor of Windsor. We can all take a collective sigh of relief, and then continue moving forward holding politicians accountable.
Alyssa Henderson
My name is Alyssa, and I’m a graduate from the University of California, Davis with a degree in English and film, currently working in the tech industry. When I first learned about Survivors to Superheroes, I was instantly touched by its goals to educate, support, and empower survivors because, unfortunately, there aren’t as many safe and helpful resources for young survivors online as there should be. Writing has guided me through challenging times and, with our literary journal, I’m especially excited to help cultivate a space where survivors and their loved ones can creatively express themselves through art and literature as a part of their healing process. In my spare time, you can find me cheering on the San Jose Sharks, attempting to play the bass guitar, and relaxing at the beach.
