E.M. tried to resist in ‘passive ways’
Cunningham restarts her closing arguments, which she began yesterday, by talking about how E.M. reacted when men started coming into the room.
“Feeling scared and confused, she defaults to habit,” but as more men arrived in the room, she found herself “in over her head.”
“Intially, she’s trying to resist in passive ways, in ways that would be completely recognizable to any woman or anyone who has seen a woman in an uncomfortable situation,” Cunningham says.
The men were making suggestions about what she should do, telling her what to do, to get down on the floor, to touch herself, Cunningham says.
“She is intimidated by the presence of these men, so she goes along with what she thinks is expected, but it’s what she thinks it’s what is expected because it’s what they’re saying to each other. It’s not coming from nowhere.”
This is the context for E.M.’s disconnection of body and mind, Cunningham says.
