On October 21, 2017, Harry Styles performed at the charity concert, We Can Survive. If youâve ever seen Styles perform live, you would know just how connected he becomes with the crowd â especially during his favorite song to perform, Kiwi. During the song, he runs around the stage, tripping over his microphone wire, throwing water onto the crowd and screaming into the microphone on his knees, right in front of fans. During his performance at the breast cancer benefit concert, a fan reached up to him and aggressively grabbed his crotch, while he was kneeling in front of them. Styles quickly shoved the womanâs hand away, stood up and avoided that area of the stage for the rest of his performance.
Shortly after the assault occurred, a video was released on twitter. Stylesâ fans were inflamed. They started the hashtag â#RespectHarryâ to remind everyone that Styles deserves respect, just as every human does â being a celebrity does not make him an object. Grabbing someoneâs crotch is sexual assault. It is important to acknowledge that sexual harassment isnât solely targeted at women, and just because Styles is famous doesnât make it any less of an assault. Â Â
It wasnât long before Stylesâ fans found the assaulterâs twitter. Her twitter has since been deleted, but her username was @lalaxerica. She claims that she âwouldnât have [done] it on purpose.â Whether she claims to have done it accidentally, or she did it on purpose, it is clear that she assaulted him, and she needs to take responsibility for her actions. Sheâs not just an âoverzealous fanâ. Sheâs a sexual harasser. Itâs our responsibility to call her what she is.
As a longtime devoted fan of Harry, it was extremely painful to see the video of him being assaulted flood my social media on Saturday night. Harryâs platform is all about spreading love, positivity, respect and support for others. One of his most infamous sayings is âTreat People With Kindnessâ. Harry is always there to support his fans and show us that we are accepted no matter what. His concert is a safe space for fans, where one can truly be themselves. Harry brings flags on stage to show support of different communities â heâs brought on the pride flag, transgender flag, the Puerto Rican flag and more. Harry uses his platform to empower women, specifically young women, because he knows that we make up a majority of his fan base, and he believes in us. Harry deserves nothing but the positive energy heâs putting into this world. Itâs disgusting that someone thought it was okay to assault him.
On the night of Tuesday October 4th, 2017, TMZ posted a video on twitter titled âIs Harry Styles just asking to get his crotch touched?â NO. HEâS NOT. No one is ever asking to be sexually assaulted;Â thatâs what makes it assault â itâs not consensual. Unless Harry told the crowd âwhen I get on my knees please grab my crotch,â a fan grabbing him inappropriately could never be consensual. In the video of the woman groping him, you can see the shade of his knuckles, which implies his grip was really aggressive, in order to force the womanâs hand away. Itâs not a debate. It was sexual assault.
Harry Styles doesn’t perform for fans so they can touch him inappropriately. This victim blaming ideology is the reason so many people donât come forward when they are sexually assaulted, because people donât take them or the subject seriously. This happens to men and women. It isnât gender specific. It is wrong. There is absolutely nothing debatable about sexual assault. For someone to give the excuse, âWell he was performing too close; he wants to be grabbed,â is sickening. Being a celebrity and performing for your fans isnât an invitation to be groped. People need to respect him and his personal space. Thatâs his body, and he hasnât given anyone permission to touch him. The media cannot downplay what happened to him. He didnât ask for this; he didnât enjoy it, and he sure as hell shouldnât be blamed for this fanâs disgusting actions.
Thereâs absolutely no reason there should still be a problem with sexual harassment and assault in 2017. In order to end sexual violence, we must create a culture where everyone is treated with basic human respect. This culture must be present on and off the stage. We must refuse to strip people of their dignity. We must refuse to sexualize and treat people like they are nothing, and we must refuse to stay silent.
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If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, there is help to be found. Please consider these online resources:
A Voice For The Innocent – http://www.avoicefortheinnocent.org
Anti Violence Project (serves LGBT) – https://avp.org
National Sexual Assault Hotline – 800.656.4673
National Sexual Violence Resource Center – https://www.nsvrc.org