Truest statement of the week

Storytelling is an essential part of the antirape movement, but it won’t end sexual violence. Solving a problem doesn’t necessitate that everyone knows the details. Survivors don’t need more awareness; we need a complete overhaul of society’s distribution of power. Prevention specialists emphasize that awareness alone is not enough to stop sexual violence; it must be coupled with education that deepens understanding of its roots causes and the norms, attitudes, and behaviors that enable it. The consequences of that gap are particularly evident in the recent reaction to former congressional staffer Tara Reade claiming that presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden raped her in 1993. Much of the online discourse has been predictable: Some self-proclaimed Biden supporters immediately began attacking Reade, indulging in stereotypical retaliatory tactics. Others, like Milano, took a more subtle approach in their response: shedding their “believe women” rhetoric and calling for “due process” (without defining it), calling Biden a “good man” (whatever that means), and feigning concern about “destroying innocent men.”


-- Wagatwe Wanjuki, "Joe Biden Has Been Accused of Rape. Now What?" (BITCH).