Awarding her $5 million in damages E. Jean Carroll against Donald TrumpFor harassment and slander, movement #Me too he went full circle.

Trump’s election in 2016 sparked a wave of female outrage, especially after he was accused of abusing more than a dozen women. This outrage was the fuse that ignited the #MeToo movement as women channeled their energy into exposing rapists. After all, Trump was the reason producer Harvey Weinstein’s revelations led to a national frenzy.

The #MeToo movement is why author E. Jean Carroll wrote her autobiography to reveal that Trump raped her in the fitting room of an upscale New York clothing store, Bergdorf-Goodman, in the mid-1990s. MeToo showed up, I, like many other women, could not help but remember some of the men from my past, ”wrote Carol. This movement led to the adoption of the Adult Victims of Abuse Act in New York. The legislation provides a period of time during which victims of sexual assault can sue the perpetrators, despite the statute of limitations.

Carroll’s lawsuit was one of the first filed after the passage of the law. Thanks to her persistence, Trump was brought to justice for the first time for his behavior towards women. Thanks to the #MeToo movement, the person who started it all will suffer the consequences.

The test showed just how much #MeToo has changed perceptions over time. The six male and three female jurors were asked to understand why the sexually assaulted man chose to remain silent for decades, why he could not remember the exact date of the incident, and why his psychological trauma did not manifest itself publicly and in the usual way. .

Trump’s lawyer decided to buy as if #MeToo never existed. He made Carol answer why she didn’t raise her voice during the attack, why she didn’t call the police, and why she didn’t go to the hospital. He asked the prosecution witness, whom Trump groped during the flight, if he asked the assailant to “stop, did he say no, or something like that?”

It is strange that the jury did not find Trump guilty of the rape that Carroll accused him of, but found guilty of sexual harassment. His supporters will use this evidence as a “fig leaf”, saying that justice has acquitted him. But most importantly, for the first time, the court confirmed something important: all the women who were disgusted by his election always knew that Trump was not just a misogynist, but a dangerous rapist.

I’m not naive enough to think the Republicans will run away from Trump. “I would prefer the president not be tried for abuse, but I see no reason to remove him from the race,” said Republican Senator Kevin Kramer.

Trump’s conviction is a reminder that a legal storm is brewing in his path that cannot be averted by lies, flattery and wishful thinking.