Outing quotidian acts of sexual assault on social media is becoming increasingly common.
Last summer a woman in Hawaii live-streamed her supervisor trying to coerce her into sexual activity on Facebook.
The video garnered over 197,000 views and was enough evidence for the man to be charged with fourth-degree sexual assault.
At the end of last year writer Kelly Oxford called for women to Tweet their first sexual assault in response to Donald Trump's sexually explicit comments about assaulting women without their consent.
As well as being a way to track down and persecute perpetrators, these examples publicise the profusion of these crimes.
Last week Nathalie Gordon, a creative based in London, went through a depressingly familiar ordeal.
Whilst on public transport a man proceeded to sexually assault her, by making a pass, and once she had rejected him, rubbing his crotch.
So far, so horribly familiar.
According to the Evening Standard, 'City Hall estimates that one in ten women in the capital has been assaulted on the transport network more broadly – with less than 10 per cent reporting the incident to police.'
And to unpack a little as to why these things aren't reported, it's worth reading the rest of this thread.
Not being believed, being told it isn't someone else's problem and being blamed are all disgustingly familiar responses to complaints of sexual assault.
Thankfully, Nathalie didn't take it lying down, and explained to the world exactly what she should expect.
Oh, and *warning*, there might be some swearing.
Can we get an a-f******-men? (Sorry, we're all riled up over here)
Not accepting this tepid and offensive response, Nathalie went ahead and called TFL to place a proper complaint.
As well as emploring other women to come forward.
We've literally all got a story like Nathalie's, and although this is a depressing thought, it means if we all speak up, we're already an army.
Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.
