{"id":1947,"date":"2020-11-03T09:13:56","date_gmt":"2020-11-03T13:13:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/v01_2020\/staging\/?p=1947"},"modified":"2020-11-13T13:14:27","modified_gmt":"2020-11-13T17:14:27","slug":"a-survivors-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/2020\/11\/a-survivors-story\/","title":{"rendered":"A survivor\u2019s story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Natalia Tylim:<\/span> Hi, welcome to a conversation with Tara Reade. I’m Natalia. I’m a member of We Believe Tara, which is a national network of activists that organizes with Tara Reade. I’m also a member of the Tempest Collective, which is a new publication for debate, discussion and activism on the Left. And I’m a member of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America.<\/p>\n

This event is co-sponsored by the Chicago chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, by the Pittsburgh Socialist Feminist Committee, by New York City for Abortion Rights, and by the Reform and Revolution DSA caucus.<\/p>\n

We’re extremely honored to host this event. Despite the fact that Tara’s voice has been sidelined by progressives, [and the] liberal and feminist mainstream, we think it’s important to talk about this issue of a survivor\u2019s story. This event is geared towards all the people who have their own stories of sexual assault that follow them around everywhere they go in life. It’s geared towards everyone who’s disturbed and dissatisfied with the option of two alleged rapists for president, even for those who will choose to vote for Biden, which we certainly understand. Whoever wins this election, we must redouble our efforts to rebuild a feminist movement that is fighting for a better world for all of us, regardless of party affiliation and at every intersection of oppression.<\/p>\n

Again, I just want to acknowledge that this election is scary and it’s rough. None of us are satisfied with the options and all of us want to see Trump, and his authoritarian maneuverings, go down. With this in mind, what are the issues and demands that the Left and the feminist movement could organize around to be able to one day transcend these terrible choices?<\/p>\n

In 1993, Tara was a congressional aide and she was sexually assaulted at her workplace by her boss, Senator Joe Biden. She chose not to come forward [publicly] at that time, but she filed a complaint and was soon let go from her job. Flash forward to 2020, and her assaulter is a front runner to be the presidential candidate on the Democratic Party ticket. On the heels of the #MeToo uprising, she decided it was time to come forward. In response, she has been met with unbelievable cruelty, with attacks and smears, in an attempt to protect Joe Biden. This allegation has yet to be investigated. It has been tried and supposedly settled in the court of the mainstream liberal media, but there has been no independent investigation and the pertinent documents that are being held at the University of Delaware have yet to be released.<\/p>\n

If you choose to vote for Biden, we understand and we respect your individual voting choice. But we also believe that that choice need not go hand in hand with throwing Tara Reade under the bus. The mainstream feminist movement in this country has just failed a giant test. It has fallen into the trap of blaming a survivor because of who her assaulter is. And this is unacceptable and we need to rebuild a feminist movement on a stronger foundation, or it will be completely toothless. The feminist movement in the United States will not succeed if it is tied to the Democratic Party. This is a party that has demonstrated time after time that our rights and our lives are negotiable to them.<\/p>\n

We are as concerned about Trump and the real threat that the strengthened Right poses to us all. And this is why we are insistent on the need to rebuild the feminist movement. The feminist movement is at the forefront of anti-fascist struggle. This is true historically, and it’s true today. From Brazil to Russia, to Belarus to Poland, to Chile\u2014this issue is not a distraction from the fight against the Right and the fight against Trumpism, it’s the vehicle for combating it. We need to grapple with the fact that the feminist movement internationally is thriving and growing. So why is this not the case in the United States? And what are we going to do to reverse that reality?<\/p>\n

With that, I’m incredibly excited to introduce Tara Reade. Tara is a former Senate aide. She’s a survivor, a poet, an activist, and I’m very excited to announce that she has a new book coming out, a memoir about her experience. It’s called Left Out: When The Truth Doesn’t Fit In<\/em>. You can find the book at tarareadeauthor.com<\/a>. It will be available as an e-book on Tuesday, the 27th of October, and the physical book will be ready for January of 2021.<\/p>\n

Welcome Tara.<\/p>\n

Tara Reade:<\/span>
Thank you so much for having me.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

NT<\/span> Thank you. I’m very excited to have you. I mentioned this in the introduction, but you chose not to go public in 1993 when you were assaulted. And I was hoping you could speak a little bit about what made you decide to come forward now. And how did you expect your story to be received? Were you surprised by the way you were responded to?<\/p>\n

TR<\/span> Well, I came forward the way I thought I was supposed to in 1993. I mean, my mother wanted me to call the police and go to law enforcement, which I did not. However I did report the sexual harassment, and used a form. And then recently, I was reminded by someone who worked in another Senate office that I had actually contacted them and asked for their phone number to also be on the form. So that should be there on that form as well, if they could find it. And I’ve tried, and emailed, and been sent in all different directions.<\/p>\n

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Artwork by Avalon Clare.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What I was told is it would have been given back to Senator Joe Biden’s office at the time. And the chief of staff, who was Ted Kauffman, would have been in charge of it’s archival life, where it went. And, although Joe Biden said something about the Senate being in charge, that’s not true.<\/p>\n

And he knows that, all of the personnel files went to the University of Delaware and are under seal. So I went ahead and emailed, and tried to get those personnel files, and was rejected under the Freedom of Information Act because Congress is not covered under the FOIA, and also because it’s a university and it’s sealed, so it’s considered private. Without his release, I can’t get the personnel file. In 1993, I had never considered going to the press at all. I only considered going through legal channels. And then when I went through what I went through with my daughter, where safety was more of a concern. The way we were living, it never occurred to me. In the 2000s when Obama ran, I was very pro Obama, very excited about him running for president and Biden happened to be on the ticket. And by then, my daughter was still under age and still young, and my concern was for her safety and welfare. And there was really no mechanism to come forward. I mean, people say, why did you wait? Well, you can contact press, but it’s up to them if they choose to print it or contact you, you have no control over that. You can reach out and that’s about it. And I didn’t plan to do that during that time. I wanted to simply live my life and heal. And there was just part of me that thought that maybe my experience was somehow unique, even though I had heard rumors that there was stuff going on with him, it wasn’t anything substantive. So I thought, well, maybe he changed. I lived with that secret.<\/p>\n

Then 2019 hit and Lucy Flores<\/a> bravely came forward and seven other women<\/a>. And they were just really torn apart in the press. One was called narcissistic, you know, the same kind of things they said about me. They were \u201cliars, narcissistic, wanting attention.\u201d And I can tell you, nobody wants this kind of attention. I talked recently to a Weinstein survivor and her hope is that she’s not always going to be considered a Weinstein survivor. Instead she’ll be who she is and be known for her work or whatever, you know, how she’d like to be known; but it’s a tough legacy to just be someone’s accuser.<\/p>\n

So, I saw and heard Lucy Flores bravely coming forward. And then I remembered when Whoopi Goldberg was really sarcastic about her and said, \u201cwell, if somebody put their hand on my shoulder, I would just tell them to take it off. I mean, what’s her problem?\u201d And I thought, not if it’s your boss and no it’s not that easy.<\/p>\n

And then a second thing happened. I was talking to my daughter, she knew by that time about what happened to me. And she just said, \u201cyou can’t come forward. He’s just too powerful.\u201d And I thought, well, now I have to, because she’s 25 years old going on 26 and I didn’t want another generation having to be afraid of a powerful person.<\/p>\n

And so when the opportunity presented itself\u2014a local reporter that knew someone in my writer’s group called me\u2014the first time I wasn’t sure. And then the second time he called, I took the call, and went ahead and kind of put my toe in the water and started talking about things for which I knew there were witnesses, and there was a paper trail, and that was sexual harassment. And I wanted to talk about the sexual assault, but I was too scared. And [the reporter] said something that really got to me, that kind of made me not want to say it. And it wasn’t his fault, but it just kind of gave me the excuse to not bring it forward.<\/p>\n

So in 2019, the sexual harassment [story] came [out] and I was dismissed as a Russian agent. It was called a Russian disinformation story. I kept reaching out to Lisa Lerer at the New York Times<\/em>. She acknowledged that publicly, that I kept reaching out. Finally, someone got back to me in 2020, and I thought I had the #MeToo movement behind me.<\/p>\n

So that’s kind of the journey that I took. I didn’t know that I would be standing alone without support. You know, until the We Believe Tara committee came along to provide that beautiful support that has really helped me.<\/p>\n

NT<\/span> I mean, certainly you’ve been sidelined, but I want you to know you do have support. There are people who support you. It’s wild to think about that time in 1993, sexism at Capitol Hill was probably something that everyone was talking about left and right. I mean, with the Anita Hill hearings and the Juanita Broderick<\/a> story. Was it something that was kind of just like a conscious secret? It’s just interesting to me, the way in which things have both changed and stayed the same in so many ways with the ways that people have come forward. It’s just incredible.<\/p>\n

TR<\/span> It was much more the norm to not talk about it. And in fact, Anita Hill was kind of silenced, right? Because of the way she was treated. And my memory of 1993 is there were a lot of male members of Congress, not as many females, there wasn’t that balance. And, as such, there were many that behaved badly and it was known on the Hill. And I think there’s some studies and if you look up the articles<\/a>, you can find the history of how difficult it was to make a sexual harassment complaint. It was quite, quite hard.<\/p>\n

NT<\/span> Yeah. I do think that Anita Hill exposed what happens when you come forward. But it also opened up all these things in which, like you’re saying, what was the norm at the workplace is no longer considered the norm. But at the same time, when you come forward about something about sexual assault, it’s treated in the same way\u2014even after the #MeToo movement, it’s just astounding.<\/p>\n

I want to change tack a little bit, and we’ll talk more about #MeToo and the Democratic Party shortly, but I wanted to talk a little bit about the Right. Because I know that you’ve given up a lot of speaking opportunities, both on liberal and right-wing media, because you’re insistent on supporting the survivors of both candidates. And Trump also stands accused by more than 26 women and counting<\/a>. It’s absolutely disgusting. What do you have to say to the survivors of Trump’s assaults?<\/p>\n

TR<\/span> Just that they have my support. I mean, when someone comes forward, it’s really difficult and you can get a lot of weaponized political response that has nothing to do with what you’re talking about. So, I’ve always been supportive. I’ve reached out to a few, I haven’t heard back. I know that we’re at a time where everything is being politicized to such an extent that the environment, the pandemic is even politicized. We’re in a very strange point in history. But what I noted was that in the last three debates, no reporter or moderator asked the question of either candidate about sexual assault or sexual harassment. But not only that, they didn’t even talk about women’s issues at all, or gender bias or pay equity or anything, it was very toxic bro\/male kind of vibe.<\/p>\n