Why aren’t we taking care of our rape victims?

The media cycles are always about the candidates during election season. But right now, the media cycle is not about politics but about rape and sexual assault.

Last weekend we witnessed the release of a 2005 tape where Donald Trump “joked” about kissing women without their consent and grabbing their “pussy.” We then watched as Republican after Republican denounced Donald Trump as an unsupportable GOP candidate.

Then the debate Sunday night. We watched as moderators Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz broke from the Town Hall format to grill Trump on the 2005 tape and his treatment of women:

ANDERSON COOPER

9:14 PM Just for the record though are you saying that what you said on that bus eleven years ago that you did not actually kiss women without consent or grope women without consent?

DONALD TRUMP

9:14 PM I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do.

From 9:13 ET to 9:25, the conversation was not about the political issues our country is facing, but about sexual assault, rape, and “locker room talk.” We listened to Trump make light of sexual assault, and flat out lie about his respect for women.

How many Americans do you think had to turn their television off at that moment? Or who started crying? Or who sat and watched in shock as this country gave Trump one of the most important stages we have just to brush off sexual assault as a joke?

We know that “1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of attempted or completed rape in her lifetime.” [1] Probably, then, 1 out of every 6 American women sat and watched in shock.

Rape leaves a lifelong impact on victims. And even for those who have recovered from their PTSD and have moved on with their lives, being caught off guard with talk of sexual assault can send victims back to a vulnerable state, where they are re-living and re-feeling everything that happened to them. Life doesn’t come with trigger warnings. You don’t need to tell a rape victim that.

Donald Trump has taken a lot for himself during his campaign. He shouldn’t also be able to take the emotional stability of our country’s rape victims.

To the media: please do all you can to stop Donald Trump. But please also do all you can to show love and compassion for our country’s victims of sexual assault.