For months, the Big sites have reported that the conditions at various Occupy camps have become a magnet for predators, and that the movement’s collectivist method of dealing with the incidents by way of “consensus” decision making, rather than through law enforcement when appropriate, has created an environment that is unsafe for women.  Numerous accounts of rapes and various sex offenses were reported in news outlets, though we’ll likely never know the real number of incidents because of the policies of many Occupy locations which favor internal resolution.

The now viral video of Andrew Breitbart confronting Occupy protesters at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington DC with chants of his own, like “Behave Yourselves” and “Stop Raping People,” may be something of a joke to left-wing pundits like Keith Olbermann and Cenk Uygur.  But rape is no joke, and what that video has done is bring the reality of how sex crimes at Occupy are treated – within and outside of the movement – to the forefront as a national discussion.

Supporters of the Occupy movement have been on the defense ever since, some rushing to say that rapes and sex offenses have been minimal and don’t represent the whole of Occupy, others blindly and willfully claiming the incidents are non-existent entirely.  The truth is, whether it’s been 20 sex crimes or 2,000, one is too many.  And denying that rapes have occurred is as equally abhorrent as raping those victims all over again.

But don’t take an evil “Breitbart blogger’s” word for it, take it from some of the women from Occupy.

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Before Politico broke the sexual harassment story they spent 10 days repeatedly trying to get the Cain campaign to respond directly about whether he ever faced allegations of sexual harassment when he was at the Restaurant Association. The campaign was  also asked about specific reports confirming there were financial settlements in two cases in which women leveled complaints.

Not only did the campaign refuse to answer the questions, but even more disastrous is they had a ten-day-lead to figure out a strategy to address the charges and did absolutely nothing. When the charges were made public, Cain bungled his answers and evaded the questions.

Cain said he has “had thousands of people working for me” at different businesses over the years and could not comment “until I see some facts or some concrete evidence.” His campaign staff was given the name of one woman who complained last week, and it was repeated to Cain on Sunday. He responded, “I am not going to comment on that.”

He was then asked, “Have you ever been accused, sir, in your life of harassment by a woman?”

He breathed audibly, glared at the reporter and stayed silent for several seconds. After the question was repeated three times, he responded by asking the reporter, “Have you ever been accused of sexual harassment?”

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From The Chicago Tribune:

The emerging portrait of Herman Cain’s most recent accuser shows a suburban homemaker with a history of financial and legal troubles, but one who supporters say has the guts to do the right thing.

Sharon Bialek, 50, is the fourth woman — and the first publicly — to accuse the Republican presidential hopeful of sexual harassment. In a dramatic news conference Monday in New York, Bialek, a former employee of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, said she had sought Cain’s help in finding a new job in July 1997 shortly after the organization had fired her.

Instead, Bialek said, Cain, who was then head of the restaurant association, reached under her skirt while the two were seated in a parked car and attempted to move her head toward his crotch. Cain’s campaign quickly issued a denial, calling her allegations “completely false.”

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NEW YORK (AP) – Speaking in a halting voice, a Chicago-area woman accused Republican presidential contender Herman Cain on Monday of making an unwanted sexual advance against her more than a decade ago, saying she wanted to provide “a face and a voice” to support other accusers who have so far remained anonymous.
“Come clean,” Sharon Bialek challenged Cain, demanding he confess to any inappropriate behavior with her or other women.

Cain’s campaign instantly issued a denial. “All allegations of harassment against Mr. Cain are false,” it said.

Bialek’s appearance at a news conference marked a new and—for Cain—dangerous turn in a controversy that he had been trying to lay to rest.

She described an evening in mid-July 1997 when she had dinner in Washington, D.C., with Cain, whom she had contacted in hopes he could help her find a job. The two were in a car for what she thought was a ride to an office building.

“Instead of going into the offices he suddenly reached over and he put his hand on my leg, under my skirt toward my genitals,” she said.

“He also pushed my head toward his crotch,” she added.

She said she told Cain to stop, adding that he did.

Bialek said she did not file a workplace complaint against Cain at the time because she was not employed. (more…)

This morning, on KTOK’s “Mullins in the Morning” (Oklahoma City), Oklahoma political consultant Chris Wilson (WPA Opinion Research) claimed that he had been a witness to GOP presidential frontrunner Herman Cain’s alleged sexual harassment of a former female employee some twenty years ago.

Wilson told host Reid Mullins:

I was the pollster at the National Restaurant Association (NRA) when this, when Herman Cain was the head of it. And I’ll tell you, and I was around a couple of times when this happened, and, you just–anyone who was involved with the NRA at the time, knew this was gonna come up…

This all occurred at a restaurant in Crystal City [Virginia] and everybody was very aware of it. And so it is, it was only a matter of time because so many people were aware of what took place, so many people were aware of her situation, the fact that she left after this, that it was, it was a–everybody knew with the campaign that this would eventually come up.

When Mullins pressed Wilson to provide details on what he supposedly witnessed, Wilson declined, citing a reluctance to be drawn into legal disputes. He would only say: “If she comes out and talks about it, like I said, it’ll probably be the end of [Cain’s] campaign.”

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From TPM:

A former staffer for Rev. Jesse Jackson and his non-profit Rainbow PUSH Coalition alleges in a lawsuit that he was discriminated against because he is gay, allegedly instructed to bring women to Jackson’s hotel rooms and sometimes sexually harassed by Jackson himself.

Tommy Bennett, who filed a sexual discrimination complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights in 2010, filed a lawsuit alleging “pervasive” sexual harassment during his time as a staffer at Rainbow PUSH, a social outreach group started by Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr.

Bennett worked for Rainbow PUSH and Jackson from July 2007-December 2009, beginning as National Director of Community Affairs, according to the complaint.

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From The National Journal:

The House’s independent ethics office is looking into sexual-harassment claims leveled months ago against Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., the Wall Street Journal is reporting.

Citing sources familiar with the inquiry, the investigation, which began at least a month ago, is being conducted by the independent Office of Congressional Ethics and not the House Ethics Committee.

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The impeached former federal judge and current Florida Congressman Alcee Hastings is on the hot seat again—this time for his alleged sexual harassment of a female government employee, Winsome Packer.

Last week, we announced the filing of a lawsuit against Hastings on behalf of Ms. Packer, who was repeatedly subjected to “unwelcome sexual advances,” “unwelcome touching” and retaliation.

The alleged harassment and retaliation began in 2008 when Hastings served as Chairman of the United States Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe and Ms. Packer as his employee. The Commission is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, along with the Commission’s former staff director, Fred Turner.

Needless to say, given the serious nature of these allegations, JW’s announcement earned a barrage of press coverage. (Here are some links to stories in The Hill, The Wall Street Journal, and CNN, to give you an idea of national interest in this story.)

And what did Hastings do to warrant all of this negative attention? The following is a quick squib from our complaint detailing the allegations, but I highly recommend you read it in its entirety to get a full sense of Hastings’ disgusting and abusive behavior.

For over two years, from January 2008 through February 19, 2010, Ms. Packer was forced to endure unwelcome sexual advances, crude sexual comments, and unwelcome touching by Mr. Hastings while serving as the Representative of the Commission to the United States Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Although Ms. Packer repeatedly rejected Mr. Hastings’ sexual attention and repeatedly complained about the harassment to the Commission Staff Director, Fred Turner, Mr. Hastings refused to stop sexually harassing her. Rather, Mr. Hastings and Mr. Turner began to retaliate against Ms. Packer—including making threats of termination—because she continued to object to Mr. Hastings’ conduct. Ms. Packer was particularly vulnerable to such threats because she was a Republican working for the Democratically-controlled Commission, a point that both Mr. Hastings and Mr. Turner used to threaten and intimidate her. Eventually, the emotional distress, anxiety, and humiliation caused by the sexual harassment and retaliation caused Ms. Packer to suffer severe health problems and forced her to leave her prestigious position.

According to our complaint, “Mr. Hastings’ intention was crystal clear: he was sexually attracted to Ms. Packer, wanted a sexual relationship with her, and would help progress her career if she acquiesced to his sexual advances.”

These advances included: Making multiple demands that Ms. Packer allow Rep. Hastings to stay in her apartment while she served as the Commission’s lead staff representative overseas; subjecting Ms. Packer to unwanted physical contact, including hugging her with both arms while pressing his body against her body and his face against her face; inviting her on multiple occasions to accompany him alone to his hotel room; making sexual comments and references to Ms. Packer, and asking Ms. Packer humiliating and inappropriate questions in public, such as “What kind of underwear are you wearing?”

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From Judicial Watch:

Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a lawsuit on March 7, 2011, against Florida Democrat Congressman Alcee Hastings on behalf of a female employee who was repeatedly subjected to “unwelcome sexual advances,” “unwelcome touching” and retaliation.  The alleged harassment and retaliation began in 2008, when Hastings was Chairman of the United States Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.  The Commission is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.  Also named is the Commission’s former staff director, Fred Turner.  Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit on behalf of Commission employee Winsome Packer (Packer v. US Comm. On Security & Cooperation in Europe, and Hastings and Turner (CV No. 11-00485 D.D.C.))

According to Judicial Watch’s lawsuit, filed on Monday March 7^th with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia:

For over two years, from January 2008 through February 19, 2010, Ms. Packer was forced to endure unwelcome sexual advances, crude sexual comments, and unwelcome touching by Mr. Hastings while serving as the Representative of the Commission to the United States Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.  Although Ms. Packer repeatedly rejected Mr. Hastings’ sexual attention and repeatedly complained about the harassment to the Commission Staff Director, Fred Turner, Mr. Hastings refused to stop sexually harassing her.  Rather, Mr. Hastings and Mr. Turner began to retaliate against Ms. Packer—including making threats of termination—because she continued to object to Mr. Hastings’ conduct.

Ms. Packer was particularly vulnerable to such threats because she was a Republican working for the Democratically-controlled Commission, a point that both Mr. Hastings and Mr. Turner used to threaten and intimidate her.  Eventually, the emotional distress, anxiety, and humiliation caused by the sexual harassment and retaliation caused Ms. Packer to suffer severe health problems and forced her to leave her prestigious position.

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