An aspiring photographer claims she was sexually assaulted by then-New York City mayoral candidate Michael Bloomberg’s top media strategist at the billionaire businessman’s campaign headquarters during his 2001 run for local office.

The alleged assault came just three days after 9/11, according to a bombshell lawsuit filed Monday by Massachusetts resident Petra Christina Beter, who says she was still shellshocked from snapping pics at Ground Zero when well-known Democratic operative Duane Baughman suddenly attacked her in a break room.

“As [Beter] bent down to look for the Coke at the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, Defendant Baughman suddenly came behind [her], grabbed [her] head and pushed his crotch into the right side of her face,” Beter’s complaint states. “[Beter] felt Baughman’s penis push into her face, close to her mouth. Baughman pushed [Beter’s] head toward him like he wanted her to perform oral sex and said, ‘You want it.’”

Baughman then shoved Beter to the floor and mounted her, but quickly stepped off when she started to scream, the complaint goes on. When she looked up, Baughman was standing over her, it says. Future Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler heard the commotion and ran in, as Baughman “put his hands in the air and started backing away from [Beter],” the complaint alleges. However, it claims Skyler stayed silent about what he had just seen, telling Baughman simply, “Let’s go get some coffee.”

Baughman, who over the summer sued Beter for defamation in federal court for, according to his June 6 complaint, bringing her accusations to “his clients, newspaper reporters, professional colleagues, attorneys, courts, and essentially anyone willing to listen,” did not immediately respond on Monday to a request for comment by The Daily Beast.

Beter is suing Baughman, along with Skyler, and a third man, Bloomberg adviser Douglas Schoen, who she says both facilitated the attack, under New York State’s Adult Survivors Act (ASA). The ASA provided a one-year “lookback window” during which victims could bring civil suits against their alleged attackers in cases that had otherwise expired under the statute of limitations. Skyler and Schoen did not immediately respond on Monday to messages seeking comment.

Beter’s lawyer, Ian Michael Bryson, told The Daily Beast, “Too often it is a tactic of defendants in sexual assault cases to preemptively sue their accusers for defamation and we strive to put an end to this practice.”

The legal team representing Baughman in the federal defamation case referred The Daily Beast to the complaint they filed on his behalf.

In it, Baughman portrays Beter as an opportunist who has been trying to extort him for a payout since 2005. Following Bloomberg’s win, Baughman’s suit claims Beter saw a news article about the campaign’s “historic spending,” after which she decided she “wanted a bigger piece of the pie” and demanded $250,000 for photos she said had been used withiout her permission. When Baughman ignored her subsequent demands for up to $1 million, his lawsuit says Beter “decided to take revenge, and thus began her smear campaign which years later morphed into her fictionalized accusations of sexual assault.”

Robert Rosamilio/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images

Beter’s allegations can be traced back to 1998, when she met Schoen at the age of 24, according to her complaint.

“Upon meeting [Beter], Schoen immediately attempted to romantically pursue her,” it says. “[Beter] rebuffed Schoen’s attempts stating that she had a boyfriend and advised Schoen not to attempt to contact her further.”

But Beter’s boyfriend at the time encouraged her to stay in touch with Schoen “given his high status in the political world,” the complaint goes on. “As such, [Beter] began meeting with Schoen for lunch at both the Harvard Club and ‘44’ in the Royalton Hotel, New York City. During these meetings, Schoen impressed the young [Beter] with stories of his interactions with President Clinton and a very wealthy man who was toying with the idea of running for mayor of New York City. [Beter] would soon learn that man was Michael Bloomberg.”

Schoen called Beter his “favorite confidante,” and offered to put her in touch with Baughman for photography work, the complaint continues, emphasizing that, at no time did Beter “enter into a romantic or sexual relationship with Schoen.”

Baughman, Skyler, and Beter, who lived in lower Manhattan at the time, scheduled an appointment to meet for lunch on Sept. 11, 2001 “to discuss “a potential employment opportunity,” according to the complaint. But the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers derailed that get-together. Beter wound up photographing the collapse of the iconic buildings and the heartwrenching aftermath, leaving her “emotionally and physically injured,” the complaint states.

That evening, Schoen called Beter and said someone would be reaching out to her about photographing Bloomberg for the last two months of his campaign, according to the complaint.

“[Beter] told Schoen that she was traumatized by the horrific acts of violence she witnessed earlier that day and did not think she was in the right frame of mind to work,” it says.

Later that night, Baughman—whom Beter had never met before—called her “insisting she come to Bloomberg’s campaign headquarters and photograph Bloomberg the following two days while he visited synagogues and police and fire staging areas,” the complaint states. It says she told Baughman that she was too shaken up by what she had seen, and suggested the campaign hire a different photographer. Over the next few days, Baughman kept pushing, according to the complaint. Beter said she was “too scared” to leave her home, and besides, the police checkpoints set up around Manhattan made it hard to travel around the city.

Beter declined Baughman’s offer to put her up at the Essex House, where the rest of the campaign staff was staying, the complaint states. On the evening of Sept. 13, it says Baughman called Beter and told her he’d be picking her up from her apartment the following morning. When Baughman arrived, a reluctant Beter went with him to a Bloomberg campaign office in Chelsea, according to the complaint. She was assigned to take pictures of the future mayor arriving at the space to thank rescue personnel who had been using it as a staging area, the complaint states.

After making little progress through blocked and closed-off city streets already “jammed with rescue personnel, military convoys,” Baughman and Beter finally walked to the office through pouring rain, according to the complaint. Bloomberg still hadn’t shown up an hour later, and although Beter says she tried to back out of the gig again, Baughman convinced her to go with him to the Bloomberg campaign headquarters on 56th Street. On the ride there, in a campaign van, Baughman invaded Beter’s personal space and asked her out to dinner, the complaint states. But when Beter declined, saying she had other plans, it says Baughman “became visibly angry and stopped speaking to or touching [Beter] for the remainder of the car ride.”

Petra Beter/Reuters

When they got to Bloomberg’s campaign HQ, it was empty, save for Skyler. He and Baughman led her to a small room to wait, after which they brought her a cup of coffee. When Beter said she’d prefer a Diet Coke, Skyler directed her to the fridge and left the room, according to the complaint. That’s when Baughman assaulted her, Beter alleges.

Skyler silently ushered Beter out of the building, and across the street to a deli, where Beter realized she had left her bag, cell phone, wallet, and camera behind, the complaint continues. Once she composed herself, it says Beter headed back with Skyler, only to learn that Bloomberg wanted to be photographed at the Bloomberg LP offices, not the campaign headquarters. When she and Skyler arrived, Beter says Bloomberg was “visibly irritated that he had been kept waiting.”

“Candidate Bloomberg shook his head as [Beter] proceeded to tell him that she was not acting like herself since she had very recently witnessed the 9/11 terror attacks,” the complaint states. “Candidate Bloomberg continued blankly staring at [Beter] as she physically shook due to nerves and the fact that the man that had recently sexually assaulted her was still in the room. Plaintiff continued offering apologies. Then, Candidate Bloomberg suddenly said, ‘Let’s get to work.’”

Beter’s complaint says she was “terrified,” but stayed to shoot two rolls of film anyway. She finally left and went straight home, according to the complaint. The next time Beter spoke to Schoen, on Sept. 15, he asked how things went at the shoot with Bloomberg.

“[Beter] hesitated to reply and before [she] had the chance to respond, Defendant Schoen asked ‘What happened? Did Duane do something to you? What did Duane do to you?’” the complaint states.

When Beter began to explain, her complaint says Schoen responded, “Don’t tell anyone about this. You still want to work for Bloomberg, don’t you?… I told him not to touch you. Look, this kind of thing happens all the time. He’s done this kind of thing before.”

Beter is asking for damages in an amount to be determined at trial.

In an increasingly polarized world, one of photography’s most profound strengths is its ability to cultivate empathy and compassion across cultures. At its best, photography can transport us into unfamiliar environments, activities, and viewpoints. It reveals the humanity in people whose lives and backgrounds differ vastly from our own. Photography has a transcendent way of building understanding and sympathy by showing us new perspectives.

Finding Shared Humanity

As photographers, it’s worth considering how images can thoughtfully foster cross-cultural empathy. When utilized consciously, photographs can counteract prejudice by connecting viewers to shared human experiences and emotions beyond cultural barriers.

The importance of empathy stems from photography’s role in shaping perspectives. What images we consume, share, and award has consequences. Photos that reduce cultural groups to stereotypes versus those that highlight our common bonds create very different effects. As image-makers, photographers have responsibility for the ways their work influences perceptions.

Photography’s strength is capturing emotional honesty within specific cultural contexts. Iconic images of joy, sorrow, love, fear, and hope can resonate across audiences because of their authenticity. By simply depicting human stories as they unfold, photography builds bridges. Even without overt messaging, images cultivate awareness that our lives bear similarities beneath surface differences.

Landscape and environmental photography also unify by revealing shared wonder and vulnerability. Images of Earth’s natural beauty as both fragile and resilient help us transcend nations and backgrounds to see ourselves as collectively human.

Meanwhile, portraits and documentary projects engage viewers through intimate access to cultural practices and community issues. Work like Stephanie Sinclair’s insights into child marriage traditions or Matika Wilbur’s Project 562 documenting Native American tribes challenges assumptions by putting faces and identities to cultural topics, taking them from abstract, distanced ideas to intimate and human.

While some raise valid critiques of “poverty porn” exploitative photography, many ethical photographers highlight critical issues like homelessness, addiction, and hunger as shared societal problems requiring compassion, not judgment. Images can build public will to address human rights and privation.

At the same time, photography reveals the diversity of human experience worth affirming. Colors, customs, rituals, and stories that differ from dominant cultural norms gain appreciation through thoughtful photographic documentation. Encountering new cultural information firsthand through images instead of stereotypes breeds mutual respect.

The Personal Connection

Even very personal photography projects connect us through emotional transparency and vulnerability. Social media Humans of New York photo stories reveal that beneath our variations, all humans experience love, grief, hope, and suffering. Life experiences differ but our emotional core remains the same. Photography makes this tangible. 

While some argue photography distracts from direct action, images remain crucial for inspiration and awareness. Consider Kevin Carter’s early 1990s photos depicting famine in Sudan. The haunting images fueled humanitarian efforts in a way words alone could not. Photography’s nature gives it unparalleled power to shape public sentiment.

But image-makers must also listen to the communities and stories they depict. Photography can exploit rather than uplift if not undertaken collaboratively, ethically, and with consent. Subjects must have agency in how they are portrayed. 

Still, used conscientiously, photography remains unmatched in its emotive ability to convey lives distant from our own as equally complex, relatable, and deserving of dignity. Photos cultivate the empathy imperative for pluralism. They remind us that shared humanity eclipses cultural differences.

Building Empathy and Leveraging Photography’s Power

Seek Inspiring Role Models

Research photographers who have created transcendent cultural stories – Gordon Parks, Dorothea Lange, Phil Borges, and others. Study their approach to uplifting marginalized groups and addressing controversies with sensitivity. 

Capture Dignity

Portray all subjects, communities, and cultures with equal dignity. Avoid exotification or portraying differences as deficiencies. Reveal beauty, complexity, and humanity.

Highlight Similarities  

While honoring cultural uniqueness, also identifies universal commonalities. Emotions, family values, and daily joys resonate across cultures. We have more in common than divides us.

Counter Stereotypes

Challenge one-dimensional, distorted cultural representations through factual truths. Debunk stereotypes for marginalized communities by showcasing their authentic lived experiences.  

Put People First 

No matter the cultural context, photography should make our shared personhood primary. Emphasize names, voices, identities, and participation. Don’t reduce people to props within foreign environments.

Invite Conversation

Photographs should raise exchanges, not close them. Enable viewers to ask sensitive questions instead of making assumptions. Images can start dialogues.

Consider Context

Account for the time, place, and audience where photographing. Cultural photography risks appropriation without localized context. Collaborate for meaningful accuracy.

Promote Allyship 

Photographs should inspire action, not just awareness — donations, policy reform, and activism. Galvanize people from unfamiliar cultures to become allies.

There are no easy solutions to prejudice, but photography maintains unique power to chip away at barriers between peoples. Photographers young and old can thoughtfully leverage this strength. We all gain when diverse stories humanize struggles and celebrations across communities. Keep the medium’s empathy-building power central to your cultural photography. Our shared humanity comes into frame.

The History of Photography’s Role in Empathy

While photography’s power to spread empathy may seem obvious today, photographers throughout history have had to fight to have the medium taken seriously as something that could insight emotional understanding between cultures. 

In photography’s early history, photographic societies scoffed at the idea of documentary images having any real social impact. When photographs of the poor and marginalized first emerged, they were seen as tabloid curiosities, not tools for building compassion.

It took pioneers like Lewis Hine and Dorothea Lange to push photography into the social justice spotlight through hard-hitting documentary exposures of harsh realities many Americans preferred to ignore. Powerful images like Lange’s Migrant Mother finally gave photography credibility as an empathy-building art form.

Meanwhile, anthropological photography faced similar skepticism when first presenting foreign cultures to Western audiences. Photographers aiming to capture disappearing lifestyles and customs were accused of fabricating inauthentic scenes just to shock audiences. Even as their work brought disappearing indigenous groups into public consciousness, they fought constant accusations of staging images.

Today, photography is ubiquitous and we take for granted its ability to immediately transmit scenes from remote corners of human experience. But historically, convincing society that photography could educate and promote empathy took repeated demonstrations of the medium’s emotive power.

It’s worth remembering how hard early social documentary and cultural photographers worked to prove images could change hearts and minds across divides. The same challenges remain today in a media-saturated world. But remembering those pioneering battles helps motivate today’s image-makers to continue using photography for positive social impact.

Current Socio-Political Context

In light of current events, photography’s role in furthering cross-cultural empathy feels more crucial than ever. Divisive political environments, conflict fueled by xenophobia, and anti-immigrant rhetoric demonstrate photography is still needed to humanize marginalized groups.

Images supporting diversity initiatives, documenting social justice movements, capturing refugee experiences, and highlighting LGBTQ+ visibility provide visual proof that photography continues influencing society’s moral arc.

While some claim the proliferation of digital images has diminished photography’s empathy-building role, the right viral images still wield incredible power to touch consciences. Consider the 2015 photos of young Aylan Kurdi’s body that encapsulated the Syrian refugee crisis’ horrific human toll. Images remain pivotal.

Of course, merely snapping photographs is not enough. As socially concerned photographers, we must pursue projects with journalistic ethics and community collaboration. But used thoughtfully, photography retains unmatched influence to advance public empathy.

Influential Photo Bodies of Work 

Given photography’s context, it’s worth spotlighting some of the most impactful photographic projects that promoted cross-cultural empathy:

• Edward Curtis’ The North American Indian: Early 20th-century documentation of disappearing Native American customs. Deeply problematic in some aspects but increased public awareness.
• Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother: Iconic Great Depression portrait encapsulating hardship and perseverance. Humanized struggles of poor and marginalized. 
• Gordon Parks’ Segregation Series: Exposed the daily impacts of racism and Jim Crow laws through empathetic portraits of African Americans. 
• W. Eugene Smith’s Country Doctor: Revealed rural poverty but also grace and strength of a dedicated physician serving poor communities.
• Stephanie Sinclair’s Too Young To Wed: Photographs and interviews spotlighting the controversial practice of child marriage around the world. 
• Pete Souza’s photography of President Obama: Affirmed dignity and multifaceted humanity of first African American president and his family. 
• Missouri School of Journalism’s Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute’s Pictures of the Year International: Annual curated exhibitions displaying most impactful and socially resonant images of the year.

There are countless other bodies of culturally insightful photographic work deserving recognition. But the examples above epitomize projects where highly skilled photographers overcame obstacles to increase public awareness and compassion around controversial issues. Their success proves photography’s enduring power to connect us.

The Future

At its core, ethical cultural photography requires photographing with people, not just of people. Subjects must have agency in how they are represented before international audiences. Images should empower, not endanger vulnerable communities.

This necessitates patience, listening, and building trust over time. It means rejecting the arrogant lone photographer swooping in to capture exotic images. Instead, cultural photography should involve mutual storytelling and questioning problematic power dynamics.

Executed respectfully, however, photographs honestly depicting people’s spiritual practices, family traditions, societal challenges, and proud customs still hold immense power to build unity through our shared condition. But photographers must earn that privileged intimacy.

The Future of Empathetic Photography

What does the future hold for photography’s role in building cross-cultural empathy? Despite the proliferation of digital images challenging attention, photographers can sustain the medium’s social impact by:

• Continuing to highlight underreported people and issues through long-term documentary projects on overlooked communities.
• Leveraging photography books, exhibitions, and other engaging formats to share in-depth stories that displace stereotypes with nuance.
• Promoting student photojournalism programs that build visual literacy and teach culturally sensitive approaches early on.
• Harnessing photography collectives and social platforms to rapidly disseminate images that reveal shared human experiences uniting us all. 
• Countering misrepresentation by training marginalized communities in photography skills to control their own depictions.
• Advocating for photojournalism and the importance of high-quality images in preserving democracy and justice. 

Granted, these aspirations demand exceptional effort and commitment. But photographers who recognize the historic precedent and urgent need for culturally- nsightful images can keep the medium relevant.

From its earliest days, photography has helped societies evolve by bringing foreign people and contexts into frame, building relationships where little existed. Photographers today must defend and expand upon that transformative legacy.

Images still contain unmatched power to convey truth and shape narratives. So, we must wield cameras in service of human dignity, understanding, and progress. The empathy-building capacity of photography is still alive. 

Lead image by Dan Aasland, used under Creative Commons.