Behind the scenes of two relatively big US websites – their names aren’t hard to find, but this piece isn’t directly about them – have come horrible stories of what at best could be called sexual harassment, and at worst outright sexual assault. That two men, working on two different sites, have abused their positions. They both held – and hopefully the past tense applies – a power in their respective communities that meant the women – the victims – were either afraid to speak out, or not listened to. Honestly? It makes us sick to our stomach. Why is the world still having conversations and debates about whether things like this are right or wrong? It’s despicable. It’s clearly wrong. It has has has has has to change. How the victims of these – and this is the word – crimes feel, we’ve no idea. Our heart goes out to them. It’s a messed up world where we applaud the people who speak up, but that’s the truth of it right now. It’s a huge thing to do. That’s no slight at all on those who didn’t, either. Why speak up, after all, if you think nobody will believe you, and/or the negative consequences will all be on you? Those who do speak up face genuine risk that it’s their life that will take the most damage. How screwed up is that? Of course, there are two sides to every story. Very few stories can begin to be adequately contained in a Tweet. Conversely, two equal sides to every story? Not so sure. But these are human lives, on both sides of an accusation. We’d suggest that in too many cases still, one side is getting a fairer hearing than the other. We’re not suggesting we all become Mega City One judges here, rather that the instant jump to disbelieve someone is tempered. We’ve got a culture at the moment where, still, it’s taking years if not more in some cases for people to come forward, so fearful are they of the consequences. That’s a million, million, million times wrong. This affects all genders, too, although it’s clearly women who are predominantly on the receiving end, and predominantly women left in genuine, understandable fear of speaking out. It’s two thousand and fucking seventeen. We’re firm believers in every single person out there can change the world. In many ways, the world needs good people right now. This series of articles is about loneliness, on the whole. We can’t begin to imagine the outright loneliness of having someone sexually abuse you, and then nobody believes you when you try and raise it, as if you’re in the wrong. Enough. Surely, enough. It matters not whether it’s the movie industry, the local council, on the bus or flying to the moon: can we not aim for a society where people are decent to each other, respect each other, treat each right, and treat any accusation of abuse with the gravity it deserves. You all stay awesome. Pre-warning: this is inevitably a tricky subject to discuss, and thus we may end up turning comments off on this one. Apologies in advance if that proves to be the case.
