Arisha Hatch, the interim executive director of the women’s advocacy group UltraViolet, condemned the verdict as “a stain on a criminal justice system that for decades has failed to hold accountable abusers” and called it “an indictment of a culture in which not believing women and victims of sexual assault remains endemic.”
“This is a decisive moment for our justice system, one which threatens to undo the sacrifice of courageous survivors who stepped forward to share their stories in this trial, as well as to all those abused by Diddy who weren’t able to,” said Arisha Hatch, Ultraviolet's interim executive director
Shaunna Thomas, the co-founder of UltraViolet, a national group assembled to fight sexism and expand women’s rights, said her organization failed to see the upside of any professional women’s sports league aligning itself with Trump.
“I’ve been playing golf all my life, I’m very familiar with how deeply ingrained sexism is in the game,” Thomas said in a telephone interview. “It’s upsetting. People who aren’t fans think it’s such an easy decision for the U.S.G.A. and the L.P.G.A. to make to avoid controversy.”
She added: “The question really is, do the U.S.G.A. and L.P.G.A. want to be on the right side of history? If the U.S.G.A. wants to stay relevant to a younger generation of golfers, they’re going to have to take a look at their decision. This is an opportunity to send a clear signal to women, people of color and people with disabilities that they stand on the side of inclusiveness.”
Members of the group UltraViolet protested for less than 30 minutes before they were asked to leave the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa. A plane flew over the course later with a banner reading “LPGA: TAKE A MULLIGAN. DUMP SEXIST TRUMP.”
Women’s groups have been relentless in voicing their opposition to Puzder’s nomination.
“He will be bad for women, bad for workers, and bad for women who work,” Ultraviolet, a national women’s advocacy organization, said when Trump announced his pick for labor secretary. “Good riddance,” the group said Wednesday in a statement.
To underscore the reality that was distorted on the ground, UltraViolet, a national women’s organization, commissioned a plane to fly a banner near the march. “ABORTION ACCESS MORE POPULAR THAN DONALD TRUMP,” it read. The group also took out an ad in a free local paper to remind the marchers that 70 percent of Americans support abortion access.
“We know that Donald Trump cares about his approval ratings and doesn’t care about facts. So here is a fact he, and those who will be marching today, will especially hate—abortion access is more popular than Donald Trump,” said Shaunna Thomas, co-founder of UltraViolet, in a statement. “To drive this point home, we’re launching this campaign and timing the launch to today’s march. Like the small number of Americans who support Trump, Americans who support taking away women’s freedom to choose are not the majority.”
“A man with a well-documented history of sexually assaulting women is about to take over the federal government so it is sadly not surprising that he is gutting programs vital to protecting women from violence,” Nita Chaudhary, co-founder of women’s-rights group UltraViolet said in a statement. “With these cuts, Trump is also making it harder for law enforcement to protect women from predators like himself and members of his senior staff.”
“Rape is a crime — whether you know the rapist or not, whether you are on Tinder or not — and it is the responsibility of law enforcement to investigate, prosecute and hold rapists accountable for their crimes — period, full stop,” Nita Chaudhary, the group’s founder, told the Huffington Post.
We write as survivors of sexual assault to express our disgust at the Republican nominee for President’s vile treatment of women,” ad says
“I think people are outraged by not only Matt Lauer’s moderation but the sexism that was contained in that moderation, and I think that that is creating a moment where people are really thinking about what is going to happen in these debates and what do we need as voters?”
‘‘These cases are both examples of rape culture at work,’’ said Karin Roland, chief campaigns officer at the women’s advocacy group UltraViolet.
A video by UltraViolet — a national women’s advocacy group known for conducting online campaigns to highlight women’s issues such as violence, maternity leave and equal rights — calls out the media for some of the blatant sexism that has been displayed thus far during the 2016 Olympics coverage.