One of the growing number of women that have come forward to accuse former Vice President Joe Biden of crossing the line in his behavior toward them argues in an op-ed published by The Washington Post Thursday that the would-be presidential candidate’s past work on sexual assault doesn’t insulate him from accusations of inappropriate touching of women — rather, it makes him even more culpable.
“It’s precisely because he has been active on this for so long that he should have realized much earlier that he could be making women uncomfortable and that, given his powerful position, women could be holding back from expressing those feelings,” writes Sofie Karasek, a sexual assault survivor advocate who met Biden after appearing on stage at the 2016 Oscars with 50 survivors and Lady Gaga.
Karasek is one of three women who came forward Thursday to present accounts to the Post of what they characterized as Biden having handled them in inappropriate ways. Karasek says that after exiting the stage, she shared a story with the then-vice president about a college student who committed suicide just days before in response to being sexually assaulted. “Biden responded by clasping her hands and leaning down to place his forehead against hers, a moment captured in a widely circulated photograph,” the Post reported. His actions, the Post wrote, were an example of Biden “crossing the boundary into her personal space at a sensitive moment.”
In her op-ed Thursday, Karasek described her experience of the encounter, which occurred when she was 22 and was caught in one of the many viral photos of Biden getting uncomfortably close to a woman. When she shared the tragic story of the sexual assault survivor’s suicide with the vice president, she writes, he leaned down, took her hands, and “put his forehead to mine.”
His actions stunned her. “I was taken aback. I averted my eyes, hoping my body language could shorten the interaction,” she writes. “I didn’t think he was going to kiss me, but it felt like if I met his eyes, it wasn’t out of the question, either.” The moment was “unwelcome, uncomfortable and strange,” she stresses, but she also notes that she was glad at the time that her story at least appeared to “resonate” with him.
Though Karasek says she was initially proud of the viral photo that came out of the encounter, “as time passed I began to feel a sense of shame and belittlement every time I saw the photo. I had displayed it on a bookshelf in my room, but I eventually took it down because people would make fun of it — ‘It looks like he’s about to kiss you!’ It brought up too many conflicting feelings.”
On Thursday, the Post published two other women’s accounts of “uncomfortable” past interactions with the former vice president. Vail Kohnert-Yount told the paper that while working as a White House intern in the spring of 2013, Biden handled her similarly to the way Karasek describes their interaction. “He then put his hand on the back of my head and pressed his forehead to my forehead while he talked to me,” said Kohnert-Yount. “I was so shocked that it was hard to focus on what he was saying. I remember he told me I was a ‘pretty girl.'”
Ally Coll, who now heads up the nonprofit Purple Campaign that works to combat sexual harassment, said that while she was working as a Democratic staffer in 2008, Biden squeezed her shoulders and offered her a compliment in a way that made her feel very “uncomofrtable.”
On Wednesday, Biden tried to address the growing controversy over his behavior by releasing a video statement in which he defended his motives and pledged to change his behavior among shifting “social norms.”
“I’ve never thought of politics as cold and antiseptic,” he said. “I’ve always thought about connecting with people. As I said, shaking hands, hands on the shoulder, a hug, encouragement. Now it’s all about taking selfies together; social norms have begun to change, they’ve shifted, and the boundaries of protecting personal space have been reset, and I get it. I get it; I hear what they’re saying. I understand it and I’ll be much more mindful; that’s my responsibility. My responsibility and I’ll meet it.”
Related: Biden Slams Trump For Sharing Creepy Touching Video