In the Wake of Taylor Swift's Trial, Sexual Assault Hotline Sees a Surge in Calls
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Taylor Swift recently made headlines when she successfully sued a former radio DJ for $1 after he groped her during a 2013 fan meet-and-greet before a show in Colorado. And the aftermath of the trial shows that the pop star is having a special impact on other sexual assault survivors.
Earlier this month, former radio DJ David "Jackson" Mueller was convicted of groping Swift by lifting her skirt and grabbing her bare butt while a picture was being taken. He filed a lawsuit against Swift, seeking $3 million in damages after he was fired when she alerted his bosses to the assault. She then countersued. Swift said in a statement obtained by People after the verdict that her victory was for "anyone who feels silenced by a sexual assault."
“I acknowledge the privilege that I benefit from in life, in society, and in my ability to shoulder the enormous cost of defending myself in a trial like this,” she said in the statement. “My hope is to help those whose voices should also be heard.”
Her testimony seems to have accomplished just that: Scott Berkowitz, president of the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) tells SELF that its national hotline saw a 35 percent increase in use from Friday to Monday after Swift’s trial. The hotline provides free, confidential counseling to survivors of sexual assault and helps them find local resources.
“We often see a big jump in calls to the hotline when there’s a story in the news, but usually the bump only lasts a day or two,” Berkowitz says. “This is lasting longer than normal.” In fact, on Sunday, the hotline saw about 30 percent more use than a typical Sunday.
Despite some confusion, groping is definitely sexual assault.
“A lot of people think groping is wrong but they don’t think it’s sexual assault,” Mike Domitrz, founder of the Date Safe Project, tells SELF. Domitrz and members of his organization regularly connect with college students about sexual assault, and found that many thought that if something isn’t rape, it isn’t sexual assault. So it's possible the Swift trial helped some victims come to terms with what actually happened to them.
Some people may dismiss groping as no big deal, but the U.S. Department of Justice defines sexual assault as “any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient.” That means groping, which is unwanted touching, is illegal. “Groping is sexual assault under the laws of every state,” Berkowitz says.
And, just like any other form of assault, groping can cause serious emotional fallout. "I remember being frantic, distressed, feeling violated in a way I had never experienced before," Swift said of the assault in her 2015 deposition, per Billboard.
Many sexual assault victims don’t come forward.
Only 344 out of every 1,000 sexual assaults are reported to police, according to RAINN data. From 2005 to 2010, the most common reason RAINN found that survivors didn’t report an assault was fear of retaliation. Others said they thought it was a "personal" matter or that their assault wasn't "important enough" to report. “About 40 percent of callers to the national hotline say that they have never told anyone before, and have never even told their best friend or parents,” Berkowitz says.
That's why it was so meaningful for Swift to speak so openly about her assault. “Taylor Swift’s language when she was on the stand was really strong in how horrific this is to have to experience this,” Domitrz says. Swift was applauded for keeping her cool during the trial and her wry comebacks, including responding to Mueller’s lawyer’s suggestion that there’s nothing visibly inappropriate going on in the photo that was shot of Mueller and Swift with: “Gabe, this is a photo of him with his hand up my skirt—with his hand on my ass. You can ask me a million questions—I’m never going to say anything different. I never have said anything different.”
Speaking up is an important step in recovery, as well as having supportive friends and family, Berkowitz says. So, if you are a survivor of a sexual assault—including groping—it’s important for you to speak out if you are able to do so, not only so that your assaulter can be held accountable, but so that you can move forward. It's also important to make the act of speaking out as safe, nonjudgmental, and impactful as possible to encourage those who have been assaulted to come forward.
Whether or not you decide to report the assault to police is entirely up to you. But Berkowitz points out that many people who commit acts of sexual violence do it repeatedly. “Once they find out that they can get away with it, there’s little to stop them from finding their next victim,” he says. Knowing more about the process and what's required of you may make it less intimidating.
Ultimately, experts hope that this trial will send a strong message to potential perpetrators.
According to Domitrz, groping is more likely to happen in bars and nightclubs. But he says he’s hopeful that Swift’s trial verdict will help show people that this isn’t OK behavior—no matter the situation. “The best case scenario is that this gets out and people realize that they can’t do this anymore,” he says.
This story originally appeared on Self.
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