First, Kenneth Thompson, one of the attorneys representing the maid, has appealed on French television for other potential victims of Strauss-Kahn to come forward and testify. His statement is stirring: "My law firm champions the rights of people who are taken advantage of all over the world. And so we take this case because we feel that no woman should be sexually assaulted anywhere."
Nor - as I pray this case will help to establish - should any assaulter ever be able to operate with impunity.
Second, the increasing visibility of French feminists who protest the actions of Strauss-Kahn is helping to challenge what at times seemed a monolithic image of French chauvinist tolerance. Anne-Elisabeth Moutet, an analyst of French politics and culture, argues that "this is a key moment, a watershed moment,” and that, while "France is a difficult country to budge," the case is "an important step."
"Women are emboldened," she concludes.
Third, the case has shed some light on the exhilarating power of the New York Hotel Worker's Union, rated one of the strongest worldwide. The Union provided buses to hotel workers who wanted to protest at Mr. Strauss-Kahn's arraignment, and has opened dialogues with hotel associations about equipping chambermaids with panic alarms. Since the commencement of the Strauss-Kahn case, at least one other cry for help has been honored:, a former chairman of one of Egypt's banks was arrested at another Manhattan hotel, also on charges of sexual abuse.
Finally, and perhaps most encouraging of all, two Democratic lawmakers responded to the Strauss-Kahn case by introducing legislation that would require hotel owners in New York State to provide sexual harassment training to their employees, and establish reliable system for reporting incidents of sexual assault.
Am I always on the lookout for a little dash of morale-boosting? Certainly, but these reports at least make it apparent that I can do so without grasping at straws.
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