On May 27, CNN broke the news that the Department of Justice (DOJ) had launched a criminal investigation into American journalist and author E. Jean Carroll, who accused President Donald Trump in 2019 of sexually assaulting her in the mid 1990s. She was awarded a total of $88.3 million in damages in two lawsuits against Trump, which are currently under appeal. The DOJ’s persecution of Carroll came as a grim surprise to myself and many others, signaling what I see as a greater carelessness for open abuse of power and the dismissal and disbelief of victims of sexual assault.
In the past year and a half, the DOJ has investigated or prosecuted over four dozen “perceived enemies” of the administration, according to the Wall Street Journal, such as Maryland governor Wes Moore, special counsel Jack Smith, who was investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, and singer Beyoncé Knowles-Carter. By targeting people seen as enemies of the president and the administration, we’ve seen these acts “[erase] centuries of Justice Department experience,” which creates a precedent for the abuse of political power.
Additionally, I believe it’s crucial to recognize that while many of those investigated or prosecuted were also powerful figures in government, Carroll is not. Herself and people like her, victims of sexual assault and exploitation, are who it is crucial to believe and speak up for, and are exactly the ones who the DOJ is supposed to protect. Yet, this role has fallen to non-governmental bodies as the DOJ fails to do its job.
Since its inception in 1870, the DOJ’s primary function has been to serve and protect the people. On the DOJ’s “about” page, it explains its primary values, stating, “We work each day to earn the public’s trust … without prejudice or improper influence. Our employees adhere to the highest standards of ethical behavior, mindful that, as public servants, we must work to earn the trust of, and inspire confidence in, the public we serve.”
Despite this flowery language, the DOJ has been criticized for straying from its original purpose and bending to the president’s will. While any possibility of abuse of power already signals dangerous corruption, this attack against Carroll, who proved she was sexually assaulted in a court of law, only adds to the issues of police and the government not believing victims of rape and sexual assault, and makes myself and other women feel even less supported by the institutions intended to protect us. This shows we must stand up when the government will not.
One in four women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime, according to a study in the National Library of Medicine that investigated police response to reported sexual assaults. The study explained, “The women in this study … were hopeful that police would help them and justice would be served. Instead, these women were faced with insensitivity, blaming questions, lack of investigation, and lack of follow-up from the police, all of which contributed to not being believed by the institutions designed to protect them.”
In these cases, the perpetrators were not necessarily overly rich or powerful, and yet the women they victimized were blamed and silenced in pursuit of justice. When victimized by one of the most powerful figures in the world, this doubt multiplies a hundredfold.
In a statement to NPR in 2019, Carroll explained her first lawsuit, saying, “Decades ago, the now President of the United States raped me … No woman should have to face this. But this lawsuit is not only about me. I am filing this on behalf of every woman who has ever been harassed, assaulted, silenced, or spoken up only to be shamed, fired, ridiculed and belittled.”
This issue is not simply about one person, situation or political party; it is about how when women are assaulted, they are dismissed in their attempts for justice, and the more they fight against those who have hurt them, the more they are degraded and disbelieved. When one in four women are victims, this is not something that any young woman—or any young American—should hesitate to be concerned about.
Living as close as we do to the capital, we have the unique ability to see our government in action, and to voice our opinions about matters that affect us. With topics like these that can feel uncomfortable to discuss, it is all the more important that we stand up for those who have been victimized, and fight for justice, especially when the bodies of government that are dedicated to protecting the people only humiliate, degrade and silence them.
