Politician's accuser speaks about issue of sexual assault

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — A college professor avoided talking directly about her accusation that Virginia's lieutenant governor sexually assaulted her, but she was not shy about publicly discussing her research and thoughts on the growing number of women reporting abuse.

"One thing that I notice about sexual violence is that a lot of people would like to glance away from this," Vanessa Tyson told a Stanford University symposium. "It's one of the ugliest parts of humanity. Trust me."

Tyson, appearing Tuesday night as one of two panelists at the event called "Betrayal and Courage in the Age of #MeToo", was making her first public appearance since she accused Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of assaulting her in 2004. Tyson is a political science professor at Southern California's Scripps College who is spending a year at Stanford as a research fellow.

Fairfax said he recalled the encounter, which he said was consensual, and denied assaulting or coercing Tyson.

"Perhaps we have to reshape how we understand consent and how we teach it to society as a whole," Tyson said during her talk, which also included her experience with students who were sexually assaulted confiding in her, and the difficulty victims have when institutions don't appear to take their claims seriously.

"Speaking as a professor at a women's college, sometimes you have to lead by example," Tyson said. "No matter how hard it is."

Tyson slipped in and out of the symposium without talking to reporters. Stanford authorities prohibited audience members from asking Tyson about the matter.