Sexual Assault Survivors Are Not Your Props

In the most recent display of support against sexual harassment and assault, activists and survivors were invited to high-profile events in Hollywood and on Capitol Hill. Unfortunately, whether they were at the State of the Union or the Golden Globes, these women were just that: guests. As attendees, they were a visible representation of their work — but visible is all they were. And at the State of the Union Tuesday, several members of Congress invited survivors of sex crimes, as well as activists and writers. Massachusetts Rep. Katherine Clark brought Anny Gonzalez, an airplane cleaner who suffered sexual harassment at work. Michigan Rep. Brenda Lawrence brought Danielle McGuire, an author and historian who wrote a book about Recy Taylor, an African American woman who, despite death threats, refused to stay silent about a brutal rape she suffered at the hands of six white men in 1944.