Quite the contrary, the work to curb sexual violence and harassment is only strengthened when people start conversations about establishing boundaries, consent practices, and an understanding of power in the context of the kind of behavior that Flores has alleged. When people are pressured into waiting longer and longer to speak out publicly when people in power make them uncomfortable, everyone loses. And young people, in particular, lose.

Even when everyday instances of inappropriate touching aren’t signs of more dangerous, predatory behavior, they are a violation. Instead of attacking a woman for coming forward with allegations like Flores’s, older people should be letting younger people know that they have full control over how people interact with their bodies in all circumstances — not only in the event that a person touches someone in a socially understood intimate place, such as a breast.

Search for the phrase “Al Franken did not grope” on Twitter (but maybe don’t, actually), and you’ll see there are numerous people who think Leeann Tweeden lied about her claim that Franken groped her and who seemingly decided to ignore the seven other women who made similar allegations against the former senator. An alleged action should not have to be classified as a crime to be worthy of rebuke, particularly when law enforcement often fails to serve the most marginalized and vulnerable people in sexual misconduct cases.

It’s important to note that Flores isn’t the only woman to come forward with allegations of an uncomfortable interaction with the former VP. On Monday, April 1, a woman named Amy Lappos told The Hartford Courant that Biden “pulled me in to rub noses with me” at a 2009 fundraising event.

"I never filed a complaint, to be honest, because he was the vice president. I was a nobody," Lappos told the Courant. "There's absolutely a line of decency. There's a line of respect. Crossing that line is not grandfatherly. It's not cultural. It's not affection. It's sexism or misogyny."

Lappos’s comments about respect and alleged sexism underscore what feels like a silent understanding among some of those defending Biden: that some people in this country should simply accept that their bodies are public space, including girls and young women. Some people seem to be defending Biden because they are outraged that the effect he apparently had on Flores is more important to Flores than whatever intent they imagine Biden may have had.

Perhaps some women are upset with Flores because they have accepted the kind of behavior she’s alleged as a woman’s experience — to have men pet you and kiss you and sniff you, and who is this woman to finally say that she’s had enough?

I would argue that some of Biden’s defenders implicitly ask what is the cost, really, to girls and women, to let someone touch you for a minute, if they mean well and it makes them happy. The reality is that the cost is high in the moment, and, over the years, the cost gets even higher and harder to ignore. No one should have to accept as normal any kind of ignorance of personal space, no matter their gender, even though many of us are expected to from an early age.

The actions of some powerful people, and powerful men, in particular, occupy a space in between typical greetings and sexual assault. When someone puts a hand on someone else’s thigh or makes an attempt to move past a person by putting their hands on their hips, they may not be offending everyone, and it can be unclear if the intent is to sexualize or demean — or if there was any intent at all.