This story has disappeared from TechCrunch’s pages. But I found it elsewhere.
Trial by Twitterverse, as Googler accuses Twitter engineer of sexual assault
- November 6th, 2010 10:50 am ET
Do you like this story?
A trial, of sorts, is taking place on Twitter. Or at least, commentary is reverberating across the Twitterverse as accusations of sexual assault come from the blog post of a Google tech writer, Noirin Shirley, directed at Twitter engineer Florian Leibert.
The post was entitled “A hell of a time.” It purports to detail her experiences Thursday night at ApacheCon in Atlanta. Here are some excerpts:
He brought me in to the snug, and sat up on a stool. He grabbed me, pulled me in to him, and kissed me. I tried to push him off, and told him I wasn’t interested (I may have been less eloquent, but I don’t think I was less clear). He responded by jamming his hand into my underwear and fumbling. […]
I had a few drinks. I was wearing a skirt of such a length that I had cycling shorts on under it to make me feel more comfortable getting up on stage and dancing. I had been flirting with a couple of other boys at the party.
It’s not the first time something like this has happened to me, at all. It’s not the first time it’s happened to me at a tech conference. But it is the first time I’ve spoken out about it in this way, because I’m tired of the sense that some idiot can ruin my day and never have to answer for it. I’m tired of the fear. I’m tired of people who think I should wear something different. I’m tired of people who think I should avoid having a beer in case my vigilance lapses for a moment. I’m tired of people who say that guys can’t read me right and I have to read them, and avoid giving the wrong impression.
But I don’t give the wrong impression, and it’s simply not true that guys can’t read me right. I don’t want to be assaulted, and the vast majority of guys read that just fine. It is not my job to avoid getting assaulted. It is everyone else’s job to avoid assaulting me. Dozens of guys succeeded at that job, across the week. In the pub, in the stairwell, on the MARTA, in my bedroom.
One guy failed, and it’s his fault.
At the same time, there have been some follow-up comments on her Twitter stream:
It is not my job to avoid getting assaulted. It is everyone else’s job to avoid assaulting me. http://bit.ly/a2Fzo5 […]
http://url.ie/82rr RT @mala you know what I would like? more tech conferences where people aren’t sexually assaulted. That would be AWESOME
Meanwhile, the court of the Twitterverse has weighed in, with Tweets directed at both of the parties.
It should be noted that it appears both parties are on trial. Many are criticizing Shirley for posting what she did, while quite naturally quite a few are criticizing Leibert.
In reality, this Twitterverse trial seems to be going the way of actual sexual assault trials: the accuser is often on trial as well, for “provocative clothing” or whatever else. Although Shirley notes that she emailed ApacheCon planning committee, she has not indicated that she has filed any formal complaint, or if she plans to.
I spent 30 years in the criminal justice arena. Women dress apparel argument for lapse of judgment is as old as Methuselah. It is about upbringing, the lack of accepted social behavior and simply plain morale responsibility. No man has a right to put his hands between a woman’s legs for any reason unless there is complete and understood mutual consent. We have come a long way from “No means Yes” syndrome. It is time everyone gets it.