Gloria Rachel Allred is an American attorney known for taking high-profile and often controversial cases, particularly those involving the protection of women's rights. She has been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
William Kennedy Smith is an American physician and a member of the Kennedy family who founded an organization focused on land mines and the rehabilitation of landmine victims. He is known for being charged with rape in a nationally publicized 1991 trial that ended with his acquittal.
Linda Fairstein is an American author, attorney, and former New York City prosecutor focusing on crimes of violence against women and children. She was the head of the sex crimes unit of the Manhattan District Attorney's office from 1976 until 2002.
Peter J. Nygård is a Finnish-Canadian businessman and former fashion executive. In 1967, he founded Nygård International, a Winnipeg-based company that initially was a sportswear manufacturer before producing women's apparel. He was rated the 70th richest Canadian by Canadian Business Magazine in 2009, with a net worth of CA$817 million, while in 2017 his net worth was estimated to be CA$900 million.
Elizabeth Jean Carroll is an American journalist, author, and advice columnist. Her "Ask E. Jean" column appeared in Elle magazine from 1993 through 2019, becoming one of the longest-running advice columns in American publishing. In her 2019 book, What Do We Need Men For?: A Modest Proposal, Carroll accused CBS CEO Les Moonves and Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her in the mid-1990s. Both Moonves and Trump denied the allegations.
Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in Canada are well documented dating back to the 1960s. The preponderance of criminal cases with Canadian Catholic dioceses named as defendants that have surfaced since the 1980s strongly indicate that these cases were far more widespread than previously believed. While recent media reports have centred on Newfoundland dioceses, there have been reported cases—tested in court with criminal convictions—in almost all Canadian provinces. Sexual assault is the act of an individual touching another individual sexually and/or committing sexual activities forcefully and/or without the other person's consent. The phrase Catholic sexual abuse cases refers to acts of sexual abuse, typically child sexual abuse, by members of authority in the Catholic church, such as priests. Such cases have been occurring sporadically since the 11th century in Catholic churches around the world. This article summarizes some of the most notable Catholic sexual abuse cases in Canadian provinces.
Susan L. Burke is an American lawyer noted for her work to reform the military system of prosecuting rape and assault and in representing plaintiffs suing the American military or military contractors, such as the Abtan v. Blackwater case. She represented former detainees of Abu Ghraib prison in a suit against interrogators and translators from CACI and Titan Corp. who were tasked with obtaining military intelligence from them during their detention. Her work was featured in the documentaries The Invisible War and Ghosts of Abu Ghraib. In 2015, the National Law Journal named Burke one of the top 75 female attorneys in the nation.
In late 2014, multiple allegations emerged that Bill Cosby, an American media personality, had sexually assaulted dozens of women throughout his career. Cosby was well known in the United States for his eccentric image, and gained a reputation as "America's Dad" for his portrayal of Cliff Huxtable on The Cosby Show (1984–1992). He received numerous awards and honorary degrees throughout his career, many of which have since been revoked. There had been previous allegations against Cosby, but they were dismissed and accusers were ignored or disbelieved.
Mormon abuse cases are cases of confirmed and alleged abuse, including child sexual abuse, by churches in the Latter Day Saint movement and its agents.
In April 2013, Emma Sulkowicz, an American fourth-year visual arts major at Columbia University in New York City, filed a complaint with Columbia University requesting expulsion of fellow fourth-year student and German national, Paul Nungesser, alleging he had raped Sulkowicz in her dorm room on August 27, 2012. Nungesser was found not responsible by a university inquiry.
From the 1970s until he was elected president in 2016, Donald Trump and his businesses were involved in over 4,000 legal cases in United States federal and state courts, including battles with casino patrons, million-dollar real estate lawsuits, personal defamation lawsuits, and over 100 business tax disputes. He has also been accused of sexual harassment and sexual assault, with one accusation resulting in him being held civilly liable.
The Baylor University sexual assault scandal was the result of numerous allegations of and convictions for sexual and non-sexual assaults committed by Baylor University students, mostly players on the Baylor Bears football team. During a period from about 2012 to 2016, school officials suppressed reports of rapes and sexual misconduct. In 2016, Baylor's football team came under fire when it was revealed university officials had failed to take action regarding the alleged rapes and assaults. The scandal led to the ousting of head football coach Art Briles, the demotion and eventual resignation of Baylor president Ken Starr, the resignation of athletic director Ian McCaw, and the firing of two others connected with the football program. It also led to the resignation of Baylor's Title IX Coordinator, Patty Crawford. A plaintiff's attorney, Jim Dunnam, accused Baylor of implementing a ″concerted strategy to get the public to believe this is entirely and only a football-related problem."
After a sexual assault or rape, victims are often subjected to scrutiny and, in some cases, mistreatment. Victims undergo medical examinations and are interviewed by police. If there is a criminal trial, victims suffer a loss of privacy, and their credibility may be challenged. Victims may also become the target of slut-shaming, abuse, social stigmatization, sexual slurs and cyberbullying. These factors, contributing to a rape culture, are among some of the reasons that may contribute up to 80% of all rapes going unreported in the U.S, according to a 2016 study done by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Donald Trump, the president of the United States from 2017 to 2021, has a history of insulting and belittling women when speaking to the media and on social media. He has made lewd comments, disparaged women's physical appearances, and referred to them using derogatory epithets. Since the 1970s, at least 26 women have publicly accused Trump of rape, kissing, and groping without consent; looking under women's skirts; and walking in on naked teenage pageant contestants. Trump has denied all of the allegations.
The following is a list of notable lawsuits involving former United States president Donald Trump. The list excludes cases that only name Trump as a legal formality in his capacity as president, such as habeas corpus requests.
The USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal relates to the sexual abuse of hundreds of gymnasts—primarily minors—over two decades in the United States, starting in the 1990s. It is considered the largest sexual abuse scandal in sports history.
Douglas Holden Wigdor is a founding partner of the law firm Wigdor LLP, and works as a litigator in New York City, specializing in anti-discrimination law. Wigdor is best known for representing seven victims of alleged sexual abuse by Harvey Weinstein, the hotel maid in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn sexual assault case, over twenty employees at Fox News in sexual harassment and discrimination cases, and NFL coaches Brian Flores, Steve Wilks, and Ray Horton in a 2022 class action lawsuit against the National Football League alleging racist and discriminatory practices against Black coaches.
On May 21, 2016, Mayu Tomita, a 20-year-old Japanese singer and actress, was stabbed in the neck and chest area multiple times by 27-year-old fan Tomohiro Iwazaki, after she returned gifts that he had sent her. Prior to the attack, he had sent her multiple death threats over social media. As a result of the stabbing, anti-stalking laws in Japan were revised to include online threats on social media to better protect victims.
The Taylor Swift sexual assault trial was a legal case held in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. The trial involved David Mueller, a former DJ, filing for defamation against the singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. He alleged that she had him wrongfully terminated following an incident at a 2013 meet-and-greet. Swift then counter-sued Mueller for battery and sexual assault, seeking a symbolic $1 in damages. The trial lasted one week, beginning on August 7, 2017, with both Mueller and Swift appearing in court. It concluded on the evening of August 14, 2017, with the jury ruling in Swift's favor and ordering Mueller to pay her $1.
Virginia Louise Giuffre is an American-Australian campaigner who offers support to victims of sex trafficking. She is an alleged victim of the sex trafficking ring of Jeffrey Epstein. Giuffre created Victims Refuse Silence, a non-profit based in the United States, in 2015, which was relaunched under the name Speak Out, Act, Reclaim (SOAR) in November 2021. She has given a detailed account to many American and British reporters about her experiences of being trafficked by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
