Al Gore Accused of Sexual Assault

I was browsing through feministing this morning and I saw an article titled, Former VP Al Gore accused of sexual assault. Now, I must admit, this shocked me simply because it seems so random – I can’t stand Al Gore but I never imagined he would be accused of sexual assault. Anyway, the article talks about a massage therapist who claims she was sexually assaulted by Al Gore in 2006, Feministing offers a link to her detailed and graphic statement. I was disgusted to find out that Salon.com – the notoriously pseudo-feminist news blog created an article titled, “"3 reasons to doubt the Al Gore sex assault story." Of course, we should automatically discredit this woman, call her a liar and defend the dude who made that stupid movie. Feministing pointed out that it’s a little screwed up that Salon automatically blames this woman, Jessica, who wrote the article on Feministing made a point that people could be running to gore’s side because of his liberal politics and environmental work. I believe that’s a reasonable assumption – people don’t wan to believe something about someone they thought was fundamentally trying to better the world. Regardless of how people feel about Al Gore, we still need to consider this woman and her feelings; it’s disgusting how it’s so popular to automatically blame the woman. Jessica states, “She also notes in her statement that she was worried about coming forward because of the damage it could do to her reputation, especially considering how highly people think of Gore, and of how powerful he is.” That makes a lot of sense to me, since Gore was a pretty popular guy there for a while…It would be a bit more than terrifying to come forward. Feministing provided a link to another blog that gave the shorter version of the woman’s recounted events with gore – the original statement is a whopping 45 pages long. I will read from the Gawker.com summary of the what the woman claimed occurred in a hotel room in downtown Portland on October 24, 2006:

The woman, a Licensed Massage Therapist, showed up and was told her client was Al Gore. She was happy! But when Al Gore answered the door, he gave her a hug that was just a tad too long. Then, he asked for massages in weird places: Like, the inside of his thigh. Kind of creepy, but still within the purview of legitimate massage. But things went downhill during the massage, as Al Gore growled at her to "go lower":
I decided to clarify things... I said well, why don't you show me... he grabbed my right hand hard, shoved it down under the sheet to his pubic area, my fingers brushing against his penis and firmly planted my hand on his pubic crest region and said to me, "There!!" in a very sharp, loud, angry-sounding tone.
She refused, and he growled some more. When that didn't work, he started pleading with her pathetically "for release of his second chakra there. 'There's so much tension being held…'" Still, she refused! Then told him it was time to go. But while she was packing up he grabbed her in "an inescapable embrace" and "caressed my back and buttocks and breasts." She distracted him with a box of chocolates (really!) which backfired when he tried to get her to eat them out of his hand.
Al Gore then forced her to take a sip of minibar Grand Marnier. Then Al Gore "forced an open mouth kiss on me," and when she protested he "laughed, clearly enjoying himself at the expense of my discomfort." This groping and flailing and horrible seduction goes on for a while, and such things allegedly happened as:
He had been pressing his body up against mine, holding me tightly, holding me tightly and I was not certain if his robe was open or closed... It seemed partway open like the robes are small. He's rotund, you know? And I did not want to look down to see. I could feel what seemed to be an erection from him.
and:
he turned to me and he immediately flipped me flat on my back and threw his whole body face down over atop me, pinning me down and outweighing me by quite a bit. Get off me, you big lummox! I loudly protested to him and I struggled with my whole body to shove him as hard as I could to roll him off me...
and:
He insisted I look at his ipod… the song was 'Dear Mr. President' by Pink
Eventually she makes her way to the door. There, Al Gore made his final gambit:
He pleaded, grabbed me, engulfed me in embrace, tongue kissed me, massaged me, groped my breasts and painfully squeezed my nipples through my clothing, pressed his pelvis against mine, rubbed my buttocks with his hands and fingers and rubbed himself against my crotch…
She finally escapes, having somehow avoided being raped by Al Gore. But at home she examines her black slacks:
I took 'em off and I said what's those stains on the front of those? And I wondered if it was soap or bodily fluids from Gore pushing up against me repeatedly?
She also talks about how she was afraid that if Gore left her with a bad impression it would ruin her career, since he’s so well known and respected.

Gawk.com provides a link to the full 45 pages here

I was thinking while I was reading this, about Al gore’s recent announcement that he and his wife are getting a divorce. Possible ties to this? Who know. I’m not stating what is true and what is false – I am saying that I think it’s wrong to assume this woman is automatically lying. Jumping to victim blaming is damaging and unproductive – obviously these are serious accusations and should be treated in a serious manner. All I can hope for is that this woman is OK and someone gets to the bottom of it.