Arizona state lawmaker defends post about Women’s March participant

PHOENIX — Thousands of people gathered in Arizona last weekend to protest sexual harassment and assault, demand equal rights for women and advocate for a fair society for women, minorities and LGBT people.

The demonstrations took place on the first anniversary of the nationwide Women’s March, when millions across the country gathered to protest the inauguration of President Donald Trump.

But an Arizona state representative took the movement as an opportunity to single out one woman who was participating in the protest in a Facebook post that has since gone viral.

Rep. Kelly Townsend, a Republican from Mesa, posted a screenshot from a video Monday where a woman, who was seemingly topless, was participating in Sunday’s events.

In the post, Townsend started off by saying she agreed with one of the Women’s March speakers, who said she hoped women will “be respected and not raped and not sexually harassed that women will be taken seriously at long last.”

But, Townsend later added, there was a woman in attendance who “was surrounded by people and chanting as she fondled her own naked breasts in moral defiance.

“Our grandchildren may very well live in a world where the pendulum has swung so far that they actually long for a day when their own children will not be exposed to such debauchery and lewdness. They will ask the question, ‘Who stood up in defense of morality and goodness?’

“I hope the history books say it was I who gave a warning to women everywhere that if you continue down this path you will have no defense when you are sexually harassed or even worse, raped,” the rest of the post read. 

The screenshot was from a five- minute long video posted to another Arizona woman’s Facebook page. The woman in the video was seemingly exchanging a series of chants with another group of conservative people who were defending Trump. The woman in question was only shown in a short portion of the video.

In an interview with KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Mac and Gaydos, Townsend defended her post and said she was not backing down from her original comments.

Townsend said the woman was guilty of indecent exposure because she had her areola exposed and was “acting in such a way to incite, to offend, to be shocking to someone who would be offended.”

“This woman was behaving in a way that wasn’t innocent, walking around and enjoying the event, she was in front of a camera that was being held by a conservative woman, flipping the camera off, fondling her breasts, walking around essentially naked and in violation of [indecent exposure],” Townsend said.

But Townsend attempted to clarify her original Facebook post, saying if women are “going to fondle yourself and walk around naked in public, I’m not saying she’s asking for it, I’m not saying she deserves it, but what I am saying is she’s putting herself at risk.”

The woman in the video was wearing pasties to cover her nipples and was clothed from the waist down. The portion where she was “fondling her breasts” was very brief.

“She has no defense from the risk of what happens when somebody who doesn’t operate under the rules of society decides they are going to rape her,” Townsend said.

“If you’re going to act like that and be vulgar…that now increases your risk of violence from a male,” she added.

Townsend later added that it was “common sense” that “if you do these things, you are adding to your own risk of being attacked. And I don’t think that anyone can argue that that’s not true.”

The Arizona representative said she did not mean to impose the “she was asking for it” excuse on sexual assault victims — but argued that rapists “justify their actions by how somebody is behaving or acting.”

“And even when someone is dressed normally — they will justify it by blaming the woman. I’m not blaming the woman,” Townsend said.

Townsend closed her arguments by saying women who “act like this, it makes it hard to take us seriously, so I believe what she did set us back. I believe that her actions don’t help the movement, but they actually harm it.

“It makes it hard for the average person to take someone seriously when they’re fondling their own breasts in front of little girls, other people. One person said they considered that child abuse, that she was doing that in front of children,” she added.

A majority of the video filmed closeup shots of protest signs and the bodies of officers, but it did not appear that there were any children present.

Townsend’s post has ignited a debate over what the Women’s March and subsequent movements — #MeToo, #TimesUp, etc. — stand for.

One woman commented on Townsend’s post and said “this weekend was a historic powerful moment for women — focused on registering and educating our peers, and yet you single out one young woman without a top for ridicule. You are a disgrace.”

A man commented, “with all due respect ma’am, women shouldn’t be suppressed because of behavior of men. Men should be held accountable if they choose to act inappropriate. I’m not saying that I would encourage my daughter to walk around with no shirt on. But she should have the same rights as men if she so chooses.”

But others said they agreed with the Arizona representative, saying “if [women] want respect, it starts with self respect…” and “a topless woman protesting being objectified. Think about that for a minute.”

Last year, Townsend spoke out about her own experiences with harassment or inappropriate behavior at the state Legislature.

In a Facebook post, Townsend said she has received “unwanted sexual advances by more than one person” and has been subject to “intimidating behavior and retaliation” by someone in a position of power in years past.

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