Since House candidate Bernadette Greene-Placentia came out publicly Alleging she was raped over the summer while repairing a campaign sign, she says women have contacted her to share their own stories.
“What humbles me is that so many people — hundreds and hundreds of women from all over the world — have taken the time to write to me and tell me their own stories,” Greene-Placentia told CBS News in an interview. “I would say about 70 percent of them admitted that they never reported it, and they thank me for being in the public eye and talking about it and giving voice because they didn’t feel like they had a voice when they experienced the same thing.”
Greene-Placentia, a Democrat, will face freshman Republican Abe Hamadeh on the November ballot in Arizona’s 8th District, located in suburban Phoenix. The district is considered solidly Republican by Cook Political Report.
The reported sexual assault occurred amid a heated election campaign, as concerns about political violence swirl. At a gathering in September, a an armed man rushed at the home of Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton and at a town hall earlier this year, a the man rushed and sprayed vinegar at representative Ilhan Omar.
Greene-Placentia, who had been a long-haul trucker, told CBS News that “we’re not a well-funded campaign,” and she and her staff were the ones who usually put up campaign signs or repaired them.
“I was proud to be able to, you know, do these things myself because we’re a grassroots campaign, so it wasn’t unusual,” she said of fixing the signs at all hours.
She said one August evening “shortly after midnight” she was repairing supplies when she was struck in the back of the head. When she regained consciousness, she said she realized she was on the ground and “a man was on top of me, and then I felt pain down there.” She said this man “came down” and then another man attacked her.
“At that point, I remember I started moving and kicking,” she said. “He said, ‘You know, it’s not worth it.’ And they left. I don’t know how long I stayed there. »
Greene-Placentia said she drove straight home and said she believed police had footage of her driving home.
A police report from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office states that the incident occurred on August 14 between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., and that she reported the incident on August 31.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement earlier this week that it was investigating the incident but could not comment further.
Greene-Placentia said she told her husband and his staff the next day, but didn’t want to talk about it at first.
Greene-Placentia said Friday that she realized she wanted to come forward as she told her own personal story on the trail. She said she talked about how her father died while she was waiting for care from the Department of Veterans Affairs and found out six months later that her mother had rationed her insulin.
“I would ask them, ‘Do you think anyone is going to fight harder than me?’” Greene-Placentia said. “And then in the back of my mind I’m like, ‘Well, you’re telling these people you’re going to fight for them, but what about all the women who are victims of sexual assault? You’re not going to fight for them? That makes you a hypocrite, Bernadette.'”
Greene-Placentia’s story was first published Wednesday in the Phoenix New Times. Since then, his opponent, Hamadeh, has called the case a “disturbing story,” and he called on “authorities to thoroughly investigate these serious allegations, including finding all possible camera footage from the time and place, in order to prosecute the crime to the fullest extent of the law.”
Greene-Placentia said she wants to tell the women who come to her that she understands what they are going through.
“As women, we want to take responsibility for everything and blame ourselves, and that’s a societal problem that we need to move away from,” Greene-Placentia said.
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