If you dont know by now, let me tell you: Every time there is a conversation about rape and you bring up the issue of false allegations and that some women lie, you are hurting survivors. You are unwittingly contributing to rape culture. You are definitely triggering me and countless other people who were not believed, dismissed, told to be quiet, ignored or demonised. You are reminding women that their stories are not going to be taken seriously. You teach them to stay silent. Every time you insist on mentioning the infinitesimal number of men who are falsely accused, in a conversation about survivors, you change a conversation that starts about women and you turn it into one about men. You derail, whether you realise it or not, and you reinforce the message that is given to girls as they become women - that when its their word against a mans, they can never win. If we were talking about survivors of a war, or a genocide, or any other horrific crime on a large scale, we would never think of mentioning a tiny number of people who pretend to have been victims of such horror. But we do it to women constantly. And we tell them, conversation by conversation, that being believed and protected is the right of men. We tell women that male entitlement extends to a presumption of innocence, but that being a woman doesnt even entitle you to the presumption of credibility.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 08:24:36 +0000
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