Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price said Wednesday she was the victim of sexual harassment years ago, joining the growing list of women nationwide who have come forward with personal stories of experiencing misconduct in a social media campaign called, "Me Too."
In a candid interview at City Hall, Price said the verbal and physical abuse happened before she was elected to public office.
"You know, there's not a woman my age or even a little younger than me who hasn't been subjected to that," said the 68-year-old mayor. "It was commonplace when we were all young working professionals. Thank goodness it's beginning to change, and the good news is I hope this will change the culture."
Price has served as Fort Worth mayor since 2011 after she was elected Tarrant County tax assessor in 2000.
Before then, as a young businesswoman, she said she was verbally harassed.
"It was fairly commonplace for guys to say, 'Get involved with me, and I'll make your career go further,'" she said. "Or, you know, 'Betsy, you got great legs.' And things like that. I'm not going to name names or anything. But you would look at them and go, 'Really?'"
And she said it was sometimes more than words.
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"Oh, you know, who hasn't had a pinch or two, or a pat on the fanny?" she said. "That's real annoying. You just want to go, 'How do you feel about me patting you on the butt?'"
Now, with the growing list of powerful men recently accused of sexual harassment, Price sees a welcome change in what's considered acceptable and what's not.
"It just was fairly accepted. It wasn't right. It's never been right. And you never had to put up with it. But it was there," she said. "No one should be abusing their position of power, whether you're in the public realm or you're in the private realm. It shouldn't happen."
