The Washington Post, spoke to one of the women who accused comedian Bill Cosby of rape, and she is telling her side of the story.
Barbara Bowman tells how in 1985, Cosby allegedly took advantage of the then-17-year-old aspiring actress, even sexually assaulting her and drugging then raping her. In her own words:
“Cosby won my trust as a 17-year-old aspiring actress in 1985, he brainwashed me into viewing him as a father figure, and then assaulted me multiple times. In one case, I blacked out after having dinner and one glass of wine… When I came to, I was in my panties and a man’s t-shirt, and Cosby was looming over me. I’m certain that he drugged and raped me. The final incident was in Atlantic City, where we had traveled for industry event. I was staying in a separate bedroom of Cosby’s hotel suite, but he pinned me down in his own bed while I screamed for help. I’ll never forget the clinking of his belt buckle as he struggled to pull his pants off. I furiously tried to wrestle from his grasp until he eventually gave up, angrily called me ‘a baby’ and sent me home to Denver.”
She says no one seemed to believe her, so she didn’t go to the police, convinced that no one would help her. For 10 years, she recounted her tale, but there was no national outcry, or backlash against Cosby.
That all changed when comedian Hannibal Buress pointed out the rape accusations against Cosby during a recent performance in Philly. The reaction was swift and harsh across social media. Just this week, a Twitter campaign of Bill Cosby “memes” smeared with rape allegations lit up the Internet.
But Bowman now wonders why the public has finally taken notice of the stories:
“Only after a man, Hannibal Buress, called Bill Cosby a rapist in a comedy act last month did the public outcry begin in earnest…. While I am grateful for the new attention to Cosby’s crimes, I must ask my own questions: Why wasn’t I believed? Why didn’t I get the same reaction of shock and revulsion when I originally reported it? Why was I, a victim of sexual assault, further wronged by victim blaming when I came forward? The women victimized by Bill Cosby have been talking about his crimes for more than a decade. Why didn’t our stories go viral?”
Bowman also calls for accountability for agents, aides, and others who stood by and either helped Cosby commit these crimes or did nothing to stop them. “Fixing this problem demands more than public shaming,” she says.
