Too many people get caught up in what it’s “supposed to be” about, and they’ll skewer anyone for pointing out how it actually plays out.
“MeToo isn’t about falsely accusing men! It’s about getting victim’s voices heard!” Okay? That doesn’t change the fact that the momentum has been abused to paint with a broad brush and verifiably false accusations have ruined people’s lives.
People need to understand that if you want to press charges, you need to present evidence in court. Which means victims need to go to the hospital and get a forensics panel done within 72 hours of the incident, and the sooner the better. It has to be done before washing, too.
I understand that can be uncomfortable, and the system should be designed to keep them as comfortable as possible during the process. But it’s the only way to prove what happened in court, unless it’s on video.
And people will say I’m victim blaming by saying that the victim has a responsibility to gather evidence, but it’s the cold hard reality and I couldn’t change that even if I wanted to. And if I was a rape apologist then why would I encourage actual victims to gather indisputable proof of what happened?
But if you get falsely accused and say “There’s no evidence of that because it didn’t happen,” then people will counterintuitively perceive your denial of evidence as an admission of guilt for some reason. It’s like when they say using the word “alleged” means you’re actually guilty. No, it means something was alleged. Pointing out that something was unproven or unprovable is not a confession of wrongdoing.
It’s reached the point of absurdity to be honest, and I feel like the ones knowingly leveling false accusations are the most vehement about it, because they don’t want to get caught out in a lie. “How dare you demand evidence?” That sorta thing.
And it doesn’t help actual victims, because who’s going to take them seriously when they’re drowned out in a flood of shamelessly false accusations?
Weaponizing MeToo against innocent men as retaliation for perceived slights is counterproductive and contributes to the culture of not believing victims.
But you can’t even address these issues without someone saying “seems sus”
Too many people get caught up in what it’s “supposed to be” about, and they’ll skewer anyone for pointing out how it actually plays out.
“MeToo isn’t about falsely accusing men! It’s about getting victim’s voices heard!” Okay? That doesn’t change the fact that the momentum has been abused to paint with a broad brush and verifiably false accusations have ruined people’s lives.
People need to understand that if you want to press charges, you need to present evidence in court. Which means victims need to go to the hospital and get a forensics panel done within 72 hours of the incident, and the sooner the better. It has to be done before washing, too.
I understand that can be uncomfortable, and the system should be designed to keep them as comfortable as possible during the process. But it’s the only way to prove what happened in court, unless it’s on video.
And people will say I’m victim blaming by saying that the victim has a responsibility to gather evidence, but it’s the cold hard reality and I couldn’t change that even if I wanted to. And if I was a rape apologist then why would I encourage actual victims to gather indisputable proof of what happened?
But if you get falsely accused and say “There’s no evidence of that because it didn’t happen,” then people will counterintuitively perceive your denial of evidence as an admission of guilt for some reason. It’s like when they say using the word “alleged” means you’re actually guilty. No, it means something was alleged. Pointing out that something was unproven or unprovable is not a confession of wrongdoing.
It’s reached the point of absurdity to be honest, and I feel like the ones knowingly leveling false accusations are the most vehement about it, because they don’t want to get caught out in a lie. “How dare you demand evidence?” That sorta thing.
And it doesn’t help actual victims, because who’s going to take them seriously when they’re drowned out in a flood of shamelessly false accusations?
Weaponizing MeToo against innocent men as retaliation for perceived slights is counterproductive and contributes to the culture of not believing victims.
But you can’t even address these issues without someone saying “seems sus”