Elizabeth Smart says she was sexually assaulted on flight

[Calista241]

Source: Associated Press

Utah kidnapping and rape survivor Elizabeth Smart said Thursday that she was sexually assaulted on an airplane last year while she was sleeping.

Smart, now a 32-year-old mother of three, referenced her kidnapping from her Salt Lake City home in 2002 in describing her reaction to the attack to “CBS News This Morning.” She said she was asleep during a flight when the man next to her began rubbing her inner thigh with his hand.

....

Smart’s spokesman, Chris Thomas, said Thursday the attack happened July 19 on a Delta Air Lines flight from Philadelphia to Atlanta.

He said it’s being investigated by the FBI and Delta.

“I called up my husband and I was like, ‘Do I just have a big badge on my forehead that says ‘Easy Prey’ or ’Victim?’” Smart told CBS. “Because I’m sick of it.”

Read more: https://apnews.com/6ce3ea316bd589a0f658b45e975caa8d

[TEB]

1. Poor woman

[Squinch]

2. Metro north in NYC in the 80's. I kept an old fashioned

hatpin handy. Shocking how often middle aged suburban mens hands "slipped."

[Rorey]

4. Great idea NT

[Rorey]

3. I'm a pretty passive person

But I'd have punched his teeth down his throat. Or at least tried.

[radical noodle]

5. Isn't that exactly what trump used to do?

She's in a unique position to speak for women, and I applaud her for telling her stories.

[Ohiogal]

6. Poor thing

She must think she’ll never overcome this treatment.

[WestLosAngelesGal]

7. I cannot fall asleep on a plane or a train...

...if a stranger is next to me. I believe her.

[True Blue Drew]

8. Video from "This Morning" on CBS

Elizabeth,

[blueinredohio]

9. If that was me the guy would be embarrassed as hell

I'd be screaming at the top of my lungs "get your nasty hands off me ,you asshole."

[LisaM]

10. Why do people do this? I don't think it's ever happened to me on a plane

but it's certainly happened to me at various times, including when I used to swim laps. (There are men who swim laps whose hands conveniently splay out into the next lane. I began frequenting women-only swim sessions because of this).

I've had a friend pinched on the bus (she was a fighter, though, the next thing you knew the guy was off the bus, less practical on a plane). It just kerflummoxes me.

[cannabis_flower]

17. People should keep their hands to themselves

Even if it's not sexual. I was working at a restaurant once and was cleaning the salad bar. A doctor who worked in the building decided I was in the way and grabbed my shoulders from behind and attempted to move me over instead of politely saying excuse me. I raised my arms and spun around hitting him in the head and chest. My manager ran over and asked what happened. I said he grabbed me by the shoulders from behind. He said he was trying to get to the salad bar and that I was "touchy". I replied "No, you're touchy. You don't grab people from behind. You say excuse me.".

[Sherman A1]

21. Good for your Manager

[cannabis_flower]

23. I don't know

I think she thought I did something wrong.

[AtheistCrusader]

20. I have a really depressing story from work.

We had a female contractor helping with a project, and we'd been sitting in the same cubicle side by side for about an hour working on training documentation for the users. At one point I said 'excuse me, I need to reach over there' and pointed at a document on the other side of the desk, on her left, because I'm EXTREMELY conscious of personal space, react badly when people violate mine, and never intrude on other's.

She laughed.

'You're all so polite here' and chuckled. Then she stopped laughing, her face got very... blank... and said 'Once you've had someone grab your hair and bend you over a desk....' and trailed off.

I have never seen such behavior, and I had never before spoken face to face with someone who was a victim of it, but that conversation will fucking haunt me. Having been raped at one point in her life led her to view physical contact very differently than I do, and she had, as best as I can tell, completely surrendered the idea that she owned her own personal space as a result. As a guy, it's not a fear I've ever carried with me or truly understood. Now that I've had that personal exchange of knowledge, and seen how it changed the victim, it makes me simultaneously horrified, and enraged.

If I ever see a guy do that shit, I'm going to break his arm with no warning. Then I'm going to testify in court for the victim.

[Sherman A1]

22. That is really sad

I worked in the backroom of a grocery store as Receiver for 20+ years. We had a young lady who was stacking a pallet of Pepsi one day which does involve a lot of bending to accomplish. A delivery driver was busy ogling her backside while I was checking in his pallet of cookies and chips when he made the comment, "she really has a nice A**." I was at that point finished with his order, printed the invoice report, handed it to him and looking over the top of my glasses said "she is a very hard worker and I consider all these young ladies just as I would my daughter and it is time for you to leave now."

[mitch96]

26. " Why do people do this? "

I just don't get it... In a public place? what's the thrill? Maybe I'm old fashioned but this person needs a few fingers re arranged....
m

[Skittles]

11. a guy touched me uninvited on a plane

I broke his nose

[Maraya1969]

13. Really? That's great.

I think that is how I would react now. When I was younger not so much.

[Skittles]

14. drunk college kid, grabbed my ass

I broke my finger hammering on his face.

[TexasBushwhacker]

24. That's great. Unfortunately, I tend to freeze up. N/t

[2naSalit]

12. That kind of crap really

triggers me. If that were me, that guy would need an ambulance by the time we got to the ground. I've had to trash a couple idiots in my life and one ended up in ICU when I was done with them.

[a la izquierda]

15. Ugh, god I feel for her.

I've had this shit happen to me on metros or busses in various places (mostly Mexico City, to be honest, but also once in Paris). A sharp elbow or an "accidentally" misplaced heel generally gets them to fuck off.

[LittleGirl]

16. What is it with men?

They see a beautiful woman and think they can touch her? We need to make men respect women as humans first and then show them how to treat women.
Not this b.s. that if it's pretty, I want to touch it. Fuck that.
These stories really trigger me and Elizabeth Smart surviving her kidnapping is one of those amazing survival stories.
I guess I'm very protective of her. shit

[FM123]

18. This story just makes my blood boil!

[Chemisse]

19. I am so grateful to the Me Too Movement

for letting us all know that - when that inevitably happens to us numerous times in our lives - that it happens to virtually every other woman too.

I am not celebrating that some men can't keep their hands to themselves; I am celebrating our ability to talk about it freely.

[ck4829]

25. Horrifying

[MineralMan]

27. Who would do something like that on a plane?

That's just too weird.

[Calista241]

28. My Dentist told me it's happened to her with a patient.

While she had a few sharp objects in his mouth.

[MineralMan]

29. Wow!

If I'm on a plane and a woman has the seat next to me, I don't even put my elbow on the arm rest between us. I don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable sitting next to me. I'm happy to have a conversation with the person next to me, but won't initiate one, for the same reason.

On the other hand, on a flight from JFK to Heathrow, I was seated next to a young woman who was at least 30 years my junior. After a couple of hours and some conversation, she asked if she could use my shoulder as a pillow. I said "Sure," and she had her head on my shoulder for three hours while having a nap.

As a man, I recognize that many women are uncomfortable with men they don't know, and may even have been bothered by one at some point. So, I take care not to make anyone uncomfortable.

[LanternWaste]

31. I hope that applies to staring at fliers should we simply dislike the attire they wear.

"I take care not to make anyone uncomfortable..."

I hope that applies to staring at other passengers should we simply dislike the attire they wear.

[MineralMan]

32. Just stop, please.

Thanks in advance.

[mitch96]

30. "she had a few sharp objects in his mouth."

Man, this guy was weapons grade stupid....
m

[Brainfodder]

33. She's attractive and he's a creep.

Summary over.

Creeps creep, I feel the laws for this should be that the victim gets financial compensation, say $10,000 for this example of unwanted groping.

A few loopholes jumped into mind ofc, and all hilarious.

"Jeff strikes again & leaves an envelope!"
"Why is everyone wearing bikinis on this flight?"