A nationally representative survey by the Public Religion Research Institute conducted at the end of the summer found wide gaps between Republican and Democratic women. Twenty-five percent of Republican women considered sexual harassment in the workplace a critical issue, compared to 51 percent of Democratic women. And 48 percent of Republican women would consider voting for a candidate accused of sexual harassment; 14 percent of Democratic women would.

As Republican women point out, the response to allegations of harassment can be partisan too — where, they ask, is the outrage about Keith Ellison, the Democratic congressman from Minnesota who has been accused of domestic abuse? (He denies the allegations.) Where was it over President Bill Clinton?

Conservative women condemn sexual harassment, too. But several interviewed rejected the idea that women always tell the truth about it or that men are single-handedly to blame.

“We’re supposed to believe any girl who says something happened,” Mrs. Mitchell said. “I just don’t believe everything they say. They can’t remember. They were drunk. Honestly, of course men have a responsibility not to be predators. But we have a responsibility to do our part.”

Several conversations in Mississippi revealed a profound gulf between conservatives and liberals, even among those women who recounted searing experiences with sexual harassment themselves. These women prided themselves on a certain stoicism and grit, implying that unlike elite women, they could not afford to dwell on their experiences years later.

“I don’t understand why women are afraid to get the help they need,” said Crystal Walls, 60, a waitress in Southaven, who said she had fended off abuse herself and said her daughter had been raped and beaten. “I can’t comprehend that. I’m maybe stronger.”

Mrs. Fitch, the 34-year-old from Walls, Miss., said her stepfather abused her for several years, beginning when she was about 9 years old and ending with his arrest and imprisonment when she was 13. She says the experience has stayed with her, but has gained comfort from her church’s support, her marriage, and being a mother. She spoke on a hot October day outside her home in Mississippi, with a kitten curled up in her lap, and recounted her trauma in a calm, resolute tone.