AP BILL COSBY A ENT USA PA
In a recent tweet, Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight Kay Hansen revealed her past as a victim of rape and sexual assault in condemning Bill Cosby and his early release from prison on Wednesday.
International headlines were made when the legendary comedian and television star saw his 2018 sexual assault conviction overturned by the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court. The highest court in the state gave the disgraced 83-year-old, and first major celebrity conviction from the #MeToo movement, his freedom after saying his due process rights were violated during his trial.
Kay Hansen reveals being a victim of rape and sexual assault
Soon after the news made its way to social media, Hansen, 21, condemned the news. Using her own personal experiences to explain why many victims of sexual assault don’t come forward from a lack of confidence that justice will be served.
“When I was a minor, I was repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted by a close family member. I went to the police two years later as an adult and then told me there’s nothing they could do because I had no proof. Never even opened a case. THIS is why women don’t come forward.”
In 2018, Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in a 2004 encounter at his home. He was one of several high-profile celebrities–along with famed Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein–that became the public faces of perpetrators in the social movement to bring forth a greater awareness on sexual assault injustices in society, and the victims of such offenses.
Hansen is a two-fight veteran of the UFC, that built her name during an eight-bout stint in Invicta Fighting Championship. Her most recent outing in the Octagon came in a unanimous decision setback to Cory McKenna in November.
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