Herman Cain has allegedly sexually harassed four women on previous jobs, according to ABC news. In an earlier press conference, Sharon Bialek accused Cain of placing his hand up her skirt and attempting to initiate oral sex. While the accuser does not claim that Cain was successful, she does say that the Republican presidential candidate wanted to exchange sex for employment. Apparently Bialek sought counsel from Cain because she needed a job. Instead of pointing her towards employment opportunities, the accuser says that Cain tried to take advantage of her.
As the allegation goes, Bialek went home to her boyfriend who learned of Cain's inappropriateness from the victim.
While it is believable that many employment opportunities are seized through sexual relations, it is difficult to believe this account for a number of reasons. First, the alleged victim claims that Herman put his hand up her thigh and tried to initiate oral sex. Her response to this was, "What are you doing?" Although everyone responds differently to shock, the average woman would not be so calm. The victim neither attempted to fight back, nor screamed for help; she simply told Cain, "You know I have a boyfriend; this isn't what I came for."
Secondly, when the victim told her boyfriend she accused Cain of sexual inappropriateness. Isn't placing your hand on another person's intimate parts and attempting to have unsolicited sex rape? If anything, Bialek should be accusing Herman of rape, not sexual harassment. Furthermore, the victim should have filed a police report since what she claims goes beyond violation of office etiquette.
Another point to address is the evictim's response when seeing Herman again. According to Bialek's claim, she saw Cain at a Tea Party event and asked if he remembered her. The victim claims that Herman admitted to remembering her and "kind of looked uncomfortable." Women who are traumatized in the manner that Bialek claims do not simply see the violator later and ask if they remember them or not. Also, why didn't Bialek expose Cain at the meeting instead of waiting for other women to come forward with accusations.
While it is unfair to deem all of Cain's harassment accusations as untrue, Bialek seems to be jumping onboard with other women who also have major story holes in their claims of harassment. If the incident did occur as Bialek states, this writer along with other members of the public would like to see a police report or some other form of tangible evidence validating her claim.
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