Barbara Bowman, who accused Bill Cosby of allegedly raping her when she was a teen, is glad her story has finally gained traction but wonders why it took almost a decade for people to believe her. The now 40-year-old former aspiring actress penned an emotional op-ed piece for the Washington Post and claims that she has shared her story several times in the past but it wasn't until recently that the public started paying attention.
Bowman alleges that Cosby sexually assaulted her on several different occasions starting when she was 17-year-old. During an interview with the Daily Mail last month, she said that as an aspiring actress trying to break into the entertainment industry, she leaned on Cosby as a mentor but her time spent with him was a nightmare.
"Over the years, I've struggled to get people to take my story seriously. So last month, when reporter Lycia Naff contacted me for an interview for the Daily Mail, I gave her a detailed account. I told her how Cosby won my trust as a 17-year-old aspiring actress in 1985, brainwashed me into viewing him as a father figure, and then assaulted me multiple times," Bowman wrote in her op-ed. "In one case, I blacked out after having dinner and one glass of wine at his New York City brownstone, where he had offered to mentor me and discuss the entertainment industry. When I came to, I was in my panties and a man's t-shirt, and Cosby was looming over me. I'm certain now that he drugged and raped me. But as a teenager, I tried to convince myself I had imagined it. I even tried to rationalize it: Bill Cosby was going to make me a star and this was part of the deal."
According to the Daily News, the accusations against Cosby date back to the 1970s but things came to a head after comedian Hannibal Buress attacked the actor during a recent stand-up routine. Bowman said that she is thankful for Buress but it's disheartening that she wasn't taken seriously from the very beginning.
"Only after a man, Hannibal Buress, called Bill Cosby a rapist in a comedy act last month did the public outcry begin in earnest... While I am grateful for the new attention to Cosby's crimes, I must ask my own questions: Why wasn't I believed? Why didn't I get the same reaction of shock and revulsion when I originally reported it? Why was I, a victim of sexual assault, further wronged by victim blaming when I came forward? Why didn't our stories go viral?" she wrote.
To read Bowman's full op-ed for the Washington Post, click here.
