A quick thought on this question of “how do we prevent rapists from raping again if we don’t put them in jail?*”

* Which, as far as I can tell, is the main motivation behind the “What about the rapists?” question
I have been pretty open about my disappointment with the way some corners of the comedy community (and general world) have been quick to welcome Louis CK back into the fold without any real attempt at amends making on his part.
But to be perfectly honest, I don’t really think CK is at high risk of repeating his offense at this point in time — namely because being outed as a predator weakened his ability to do so.
Louis CK was able to corner women in hotel rooms and jack off in front of them without their consent *because he was able to get vulnerable women alone with him in hotel rooms in the first place*.

I don’t think that that’s the case anymore.
CK’s ability to prey on women hinged on him having a public reputation as a generally nice guy — that’s why managing his reputation was so important to him.

And CK is not the only predator for whom this is true.
Many predators get access to victims because 1) they are in positions of powers and/or 2) they are able to present themselves publicly as nonthreatening.

If you take away those two things, you dramatically reduce their access to victims.
Now, are there also rapists who lurk in the bushes and who drug unsuspecting victims in nightclubs and don’t need the above to prey? Yes, but those people tend to be edge cases. Even someone like Brock Turner was relying on his nice guy aura to get access to drunk women.
If we, as a community, believe survivors and prevent their assailants from getting access to victims — by, yes, ruining their reputations and curbing their access to power — we can prevent a lot of future rapes from happening.

*Without* relying on incarceration.
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