I’m confused by your apparent belief that it’s somehow difficult or costly to doubt claims of sexual assault. Sceptism of sexual assault claims isn’t some brave and unusual stance, it’s the cultural default. It’s what “believe women” was an attempt to respond to. Because usually, people don’t.
It probably varies widely depending on one’s community. I was one of the people who gave your comment a disagreement vote. I did so because I feel that in my community (college educated, California ) and the online spaces we inhabit, it is very costly and brave to doubt claims of sexual assault. I also had no trouble being believed when I was a victim of sexual abuse, even in far more conservative environments. However, I definitely don’t want you to feel like we are dismissing your experiences! I’m sure many communities behave as you described.
Thanks, that’s interesting—in my experience there is more often a general willingness in theory to believe sexual assault victims, which dissipates in the face of actual allegations about actual men.
I feel pretty unsure about this. I think the backlash towards believing women has been somewhat successful in at least leftist spaces in at least getting people to say that treating unverified accusations as credible is good and desirable and important.
In EA, not all of it is a leftist space, and some parts of it have their own backlash against leftist influence. Moreover, in any group, including leftist groups that should in principle be on board with “believe women”, the principle and practice don’t necessarily line up. I think it’s easy to fall into a trap of being outraged at the stories you’ve been told about women not being believed, but to fail to apply those lessons to cases closer to home where you don’t know the truth and you do know the inconvenient details and you have some investment in protecting the status quo.
So, does EA systematically “believe women”? Do we doubt claims of sexual assault with impunity? I think probably anyone who posted doubt on the Forum would get a bunch of pushback. However, that doesn’t tell us much about how these claims are handled in private, or what the practical consequences are.
I’m confused by your apparent belief that it’s somehow difficult or costly to doubt claims of sexual assault. Sceptism of sexual assault claims isn’t some brave and unusual stance, it’s the cultural default. It’s what “believe women” was an attempt to respond to. Because usually, people don’t.
It probably varies widely depending on one’s community. I was one of the people who gave your comment a disagreement vote. I did so because I feel that in my community (college educated, California ) and the online spaces we inhabit, it is very costly and brave to doubt claims of sexual assault. I also had no trouble being believed when I was a victim of sexual abuse, even in far more conservative environments. However, I definitely don’t want you to feel like we are dismissing your experiences! I’m sure many communities behave as you described.
Thanks, that’s interesting—in my experience there is more often a general willingness in theory to believe sexual assault victims, which dissipates in the face of actual allegations about actual men.
I feel pretty unsure about this. I think the backlash towards believing women has been somewhat successful in at least leftist spaces in at least getting people to say that treating unverified accusations as credible is good and desirable and important.
In EA, not all of it is a leftist space, and some parts of it have their own backlash against leftist influence. Moreover, in any group, including leftist groups that should in principle be on board with “believe women”, the principle and practice don’t necessarily line up. I think it’s easy to fall into a trap of being outraged at the stories you’ve been told about women not being believed, but to fail to apply those lessons to cases closer to home where you don’t know the truth and you do know the inconvenient details and you have some investment in protecting the status quo.
So, does EA systematically “believe women”? Do we doubt claims of sexual assault with impunity? I think probably anyone who posted doubt on the Forum would get a bunch of pushback. However, that doesn’t tell us much about how these claims are handled in private, or what the practical consequences are.