Only one woman’s claims have prompted a criminal investigation.
Human psychology is a complex subject. Each woman may have waited to “go public” for different reasons, though one they probably had in common was the prospect of this man rising up the political ladder.
More generally, I think most men have no idea the number of usually petty assaults women, esp. young women, have to endure. The hand on the breast, on the buttocks, on the thigh just above the knee. The creepy emails and phone texts. Nowadays, the snapchat pic’s of some guy’s dick.
And what’s a woman to do about each of these experiences? Raise a ruckus? After a while, we get desensitized on one level. Deeper down, the experiences are debilitating. Self-doubt may creep in – am I getting this promotion on the merits or because the boss finds me sexually attractive? Was it my fault for getting drunk and agreeing to go to his hotel room (no matter that I later realized I didn’t want to have sex but couldn’t stop him)? It’s not exactly a secret that women often blame themselves for being raped, feel ashamed even when it was rape pure and simple. Even when a woman has more self-confidence, does she really want the public scrutiny that she will undergo if she goes public? Maybe only the prospect of the man rising further up the ladder, and her own greater maturity now, enables her to find the courage to speak out. And once one woman does, other women who’ve had the same or similar experiences with the man are emboldened to speak out.
Yes, false accusations are a danger. Genuine misunderstandings happen, too. But I think it’s more important to teach boys and young men always to respect women, including women’s bodily integrity, and to teach them to be sure the woman is consenting to sex, than to teach them to be wary of women’s intentions. The story of Eve and the apple, as usually interpreted, has done enough damage to men as well as women over the centuries.