In the past week, as a swirl of sexual assault accusations against Donald Trump has prompted a loud national discussion about male power and women’s rights, the first woman to be a major party’s presidential nominee was barely heard from.

Though Hillary Clinton has stood at the center of feminist debates for over two decades, she has also been an imperfect messenger for the cause. That has never been more true than now, as her old missteps and her husband’s history have effectively paralyzed her during a moment of widespread outrage.

The most impassioned speeches on the topic have come not from her, but from the first lady, Michelle Obama, who said Trump’s words had “shaken me to my core,’’ and from President Obama and others. When Clinton herself spoke, she tried to quickly change the subject, along with a joke about cats.

“It makes you want to turn off the news. It makes you want to unplug the internet or just look at cat GIFs,’’ Clinton told donors on Thursday, making her first remarks on Trump’s treatment of women since several came forward to accuse him. “I’ve watched a lot of cats do a lot of weird and interesting things,’’ she said, drawing a few laughs. “But we have a job to do. And it’ll be good for people and for cats.’’

The virtual silence from Clinton speaks volumes about the complicated place she has occupied as a 1960s Wellesley feminist who stayed as a devoted wife to her husband through infidelities and humiliation.

Forcefully denouncing sexual assault would most certainly provoke ugly attacks on Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton’s role in countering the women who accused him of sexual misconduct. That painful past haunted Clinton last Sunday when Trump invited some of her husband’s accusers to the second presidential debate.

In the days since, Clinton has had to again navigate the messy crosscurrents of politics, symbolism, and her ambition to shatter “that highest, hardest glass ceiling’’ of being elected the first female president.

Now, when the collective voice of American women and victims of sexual assault seems to be joining in a cathartic scream, Clinton has deferred to another first lady to speak for her. At the San Francisco fundraiser on Thursday, she pointed to Michelle Obama’s speech earlier that afternoon.

Speaking to college students in New Hampshire, Obama called Trump’s lewd remarks about how he had forced himself on women “disgraceful’’ and “intolerable.’’

“I can’t believe I’m saying that a candidate for president of the United States has bragged about sexually assaulting women,’’ Obama said as a crowd of young women watched with silent and somber expressions. “I can’t stop thinking about this — it has shaken me to my core.’’

Clinton has every political reason to avoid wading into the discussion of sexual assault. Not known as a naturally emotive public speaker, Clinton risks stumbling if she embraces the issue at a time when polls show she is in her strongest position yet to defeat Trump. She has played it safe, all but disappearing from the campaign trail.

Last summer, Clinton began her campaign by declaring that she wanted to create “an America where a father can tell his daughter: ‘Yes, you can be anything you want to be. Even president of the United States.’’’

And yet Clinton has found in her second presidential campaign that young women aren’t particularly moved by her promise to make history. Many of them voted instead for Clinton’s primary opponent, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Thinking about her current campaign, Clinton said in an interview transcript released by WikiLeaks last week, “You know, I mean, I’m damned if I do, I’m damned if I don’t.’’