New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, has recently been accused of interacting inappropriately with one of his female assistants, causing another politician to fall into the critical light of their actions being called out.
According to an article in the New York Times, the assistant reported being touched against her will in Cuomo’s home in late 2020. The assistant’s supervisor had been made aware of the issue at hand in the following weeks, as the article was in the process of being published. Governor Cuomo, however, is vehemently denying these claims in an echo of Harvey Weinstein’s own sexual assault trial.
The New York attorney general, Letitia James, has been made aware of the allegations, as she is actively investigating several other claims against Cuomo. Among Cuomo’s other accusers are fellow politicians, state officials and lower-level political assistants. Their allegations include Cuomo asking them questions that were sexual in nature, suggesting sexual favors and unwelcome advances, and non consensual intimacy.
Since the allegations have come to light, New Yorkers have demanded Cuomo resign from his position. The governor refuses, claiming that he has done nothing wrong and that the allegations are just that – unproven claims. Lieutenant Governor, Kathy Hochul, has since publicly given her support to the women, and expressed her hope that they will be “heard and taken seriously.”
Unfortunately, countless investigations of a similar nature are commonplace in the United States. Sexual scandals seem to be neverending in the American political offices. With the #MeToo movement encouraging sexual assault survivors to speak up, countless men and women have come forward since the turn of the twenty-first century.
In previous sexual scandals, the victims’ reputations have been questioned. When former president Grover Clevland raped an underage woman, he threatened that he would “destroy her public name” before telling the press that she was an alcoholic who had pressured him into the affair. Former president Bill Clinton’s supporters painted Monica Lewinsky as a villain when their relationship became public. Both women were called derogatory names in the media based only on the perpetrator’s side of the story.
Women who accuse men of sexual assault are often overlooked and villainzed to massage their asbuser’s political agenda and ego. What is it like when the roles are reversed? Admittedly, the United States does not have many instances where this is the case.
In 2006, Gary Funkhouser filed a lawsuit against his former employer, Andrea Ramsey. Funkhouser accused Ramsey of repeatedly propositioning him for sexual intercourse. When Funkhouser made it known that he was not comfortable having this type of relationship, Ramsey ostracized him within the workplace.
When Ramsey learned about the scandal, she publicly announced that, had she learned of it sooner, she would have sued Funkhouser for defamation. These accusations came to public attention during the 2018 election cycle, when Ramsey was running for a seat in the House of Representatives. During recent interviews, Ramsy has called Funkhouser “vindictive” and accused him of lying, despite him being as much of a victim as Cuomo’s accusers.
Sexual assault in politics is a heavily gendered topic. Female victims are seen as “tramps,” “homewreckers” and other derogatory labels. Fox News repeatedly referred to Lewinsky as such during Clinton’s impeachment process. Male victims, however, are gaslighted into believing that they were the abusers, or are praised for “scoring” which further demeans them. Male abusers are given front page priority, while female assaulters are never discussed heavily. By breaking the gender stigma that surrounds sexual assault, the United States political scene would be opening itself up to a more understanding and compassionate environment. Why should abusers be in charge of a nation? Why should their victims be silenced in order for them to do so?
