 It's a feeling that survivors of abuse know all too well. A complex mixture of relief and fear that comes whenever an alleged perpetrator is named in public. Yesterday it was reported that Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault and abuse by four unnamed women. While I was relieved that accusations against an alleged predator were finally being taken seriously and platformed in broad daylight, I feared the inevitable backlash. I feared that among the many who would listen to these women's testimonies and believe them, there would be a large percentage who would rip their stories apart. And I feared the impact this would have, not only on these women's mental health and wellbeing, but on everyday survivors. Regardless of how different a survivor's own personal trauma is from these women's allegations, hearing these accounts will be triggering for anyone who has been abused. And the public discourse will be exhausting. When women come forward about alleged sexual abuse against a powerful man, the public response is disappointingly predictable. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video There will be victim-blaming, victim-shaming, slut-shaming, double-standards, cognitive dissonance, rank misogyny, hero-worship and accusations of conspiratorial attacks. We have already seen it all. And the latter was spearheaded by Brand, when he released a video statement saying he believed himself to be the subject of a 'co-ordinated attack' by two media outlets, namely Channel 4 and The Times who worked on the investigation together. 'Is there another agenda at play?', he questioned, planting a seed in the brains of those who are already conspiratorially-minded. The women's testimony is immediately diminished and dismissed as part of a 'bigger plan' to take down the powerful man){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
It’s a feeling that survivors of abuse know all too well.
A complex mixture of relief and fear that comes whenever an alleged perpetrator is named in public.
Yesterday it was reported that Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault and abuse by four unnamed women.
While I was relieved that accusations against an alleged predator were finally being taken seriously and platformed in broad daylight, I feared the inevitable backlash.