| Runa216 said: Not believing women who say they were taken advantage of is kind of like beliving Jaws as an accurate representation of great white shark behaviour. Sure, there are attacks by great white sharks so it makes sense to be cautious around them, but they're not so frequent you should kill all sharks. Just like how, sure, there are women who falsely claim to have been raped to destroy someone, but that doesn't mean that people should be acting like an overwhelming majority of people supporting #MeToo are just doing it for fame. No matter what the statistic, no matter what the situation, there will always be outliers. Using a few shark attacks to justify the slaughter of a whole species is in many ways similar to trying to devalue what these women say just because you heard about a friend who was accused of rape but denies it. People attacking women for coming out against people like Harvey Weinstein and others is disgusting. Yes, I agree that you are 'innocent until proven guilty', and I hate the idea that hearsay can ruin someone, but proving you were raped is immensely difficult and that's exactly why so few charges are successfully filed. This whole thread upsets me and disgusts me. No idea why I'm posting in it at all. Modern internet extremists are the worst. |
I agree that potential victims deserve understanding and to be believed in. I agree that those that attack potential victims are pretty horrible people.
However, one cannot discount that there are two potential victims here. A potential victim of rape/sexual harassment AND a potential victim of a false rape/sexual misconduct allegation. Going by your logic of “no matter the statistic” one cannot discount either as a possibility
That is why I, personally, go by a “do no harm to either” stance when an allegation is made. Which is basically:
Yes. Have law enforcement treat the accusation seriously.
Yes. Educate everyone to be able to identify what a sexual assault is and to seek a rape kit ASAP (but for Pete’s sake, also teach them to separate regret from rape, those are two different things). This is critical. The sooner they act, the better the chances of some kind of solid physical evidence to be found and catalogued.
Yes. Ask for a thorough investigation if sufficient evidence is found to do so. Tho if an accusation is absurd, maybe not waste time of law enforcement?
Yes. Encourage victims to step forward by not shaming them and by treating them with gentleness and support.
No to calling potential victims liars and condemning them. People who do this are just horrible human beings.
But (until they are proven guilty):
No to guilt via social media.
No to calls for punishment without proof.
No to calls for ruining their lives until they are proven guilty.
No to attacks on their families, careers and their lives.
No to hysterics, harassment, hypocrisy and hate.
No to celebrities/media condemning and trashing them when they haven’t been found guilty yet. Which I find (for the celebs/media and the viewing sheep cheering them on) to be an absolute act of hypocrisy.
And with an absolute x100000 and all caps and bold and !!!! (and however else one can emphasize this): No to using potential sexual assault victims as freaking political weapons. I find this absolutely disgusting, As it takes advantage of those who were taken advantage of or destroys the life of the innocent. All for political gain. All to trick people to get their votes.
If we were not there and we we do not know the truth to what happened, don’t you think it is extremely arrogant and hypocritical and a bit dumb of us to condemn one side or the other when either side could be a victim? We are not the judges here. We should pursue truth above all else and try to do as little harm as possible in its pursuit. Let justice happen when (and sadly, if) the truth is revealed.
Please bear in mind that my entire tirade above is NOT an accusation on you (as I am not saying that you did anything of the above) but is simply my personal misgivings on the toxic extremes of both sides of the debate.
Last edited by DrDoomz - on 13 October 2018
