Over the past week, as Donald Trump vociferously denied multiple allegations of the same uninvited sexual behavior he was caught on tape bragging about, advocates and survivors of sexual assault and harassment were listening.
As with almost all things Trump, there was no subtext to his absolute denials, no carefully worded gloss or dog whistle, almost nothing to parse. Instead, Trump came out and said the nine women accusing him of groping or forcibly kissing them are ugly, crazy or lying.
"People don't come forward because they're afraid they're going to be treated this exact same way," said Kate Harding, author of the recent book "Asking For It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture — And What We Can Do About It" and a survivor of rape.
Harding said Trump is tapping into "rape myths and stereotypes 101." Among them, she said, is "the idea that rape or groping is a compliment, that it's something men can do because they can't control themselves."
"People of all body types, of all looks, all backgrounds, are victims of this kind of sexual abuse and harassment," she said. "It is much more about the perpetrator's sense of entitlement and desire to assert his dominance than it is about what the victim looks" like.
Melania Trump: Husband Was 'Led On' in 2005 Tape 3:54
Shana L. Maier, a professor of criminal justice at Widener University in Chester, Pa., and author of "Rape, Victims, and Investigations", said she was "in shock" listening to Trump.
"Sexual assault has nothing to do with sexual desirability whatsoever," she told NBC News. "Many people who are sexual predators are currently having consensual sex. The entire cause of rape and sexual assault is to have power over another person."
Trump and several of his surrogates have also asked why these women have come forward now, in some cases — although not all — after decades of silence.
Jessica Leeds, who told The New York Times that Trump groped her on an airplane in the early 1980s, has said she decided to end her silence because she heard Trump deny at the second presidential debate that he had ever actually done what he described to Billy Bush in 2005.
"I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet," Trump said in the recently-unearthed recording. "Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the pussy."
The audio was recorded on an Access Hollywood bus tour in the presence of others. Access Hollywood is an NBC Universal program.
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