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Michelle Obama: Sexual harassment allegations 'make me sick'

Michelle and Barack Obama host the Inaugural Obama Foundation Summit: Getty
Michelle and Barack Obama host the Inaugural Obama Foundation Summit: Getty

Michelle Obama has revealed the growing number of sexual assault allegations have made her feel "sick".

During a speech in Connecticut, the former first lady said: "I can’t tell you how sick it makes me, the more I see the uncovering of the truth that all us women know has been out there, that there is an ugliness there."

She added, as reported by People, "If we want young women to be strong and have voices and advocate for themselves, then we have to realise how much work we have to do. And I’m talking to the men out there, who cannot be innocent bystanders and complacent, watching this happen."

Ms Obama said she was "loved and nurtured and invested [in]" which contributed to her success in life.

She also said that girls and women today face all kinds of "danger", from men looking at them in an odd way to opportunities being taken away from them.

Her comments come as an increasing number of men in Hollywood, the media and politics have been accused of sexual assault and harassment.

Most recently, Senator and former comedian Al Franken was accused of kissing and groping radio host Leann Tweeden when they were on a USO tour in the Middle East in 2006.

Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore has also been accused by multiple women of making sexual advances on them when they were teenagers, including one woman who was 14 at the time and he was in his 30s. Mr Moore has denied most of the allegations and has resisted calls to step aside.

Ms Obama was a vocal critic of Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign trail after a leaked Hollywood Access tape from 2005 revealed that Mr Trump had bragged about his fame allowing him to grab women by the genitals.

The President was accused by more than a dozen women of sexual assault, which he denied.