If you're a man reading all of these stories about sexual harassment & assault in the gaming industry and you don't know how to be an ally, start here:

1. Believe them.
2. Condemn the conduct unequivocally.
3. Amplify their voices.
4. Become a more active advocate.

A thread...

1. Believing them sounds easy, but is actually a huge problem because there is this misplaced fear that someone may be falsely accused and have their life ruined as a result. I'm not saying that has never happened, but the fear is WAY out of proportion w/ reality.

At this point, that fear of false reporting has functionally been weaponized - it's a seemingly logical response that isn't supported by the data. False reporting is not a widespread problem. But when we treat it like it is, we actively discourage victims from coming forward.

Victims already risk so much by speaking up, which helps explain why fewer than 25% of sexual assaults are ever reported to the police. When they have the courage to do so, we must all meet that courage with love and support, not skepticism.

https://www.rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system#:~:text=The%20Majority%20of%20Sexual%20Assaults,out%20of%204%20go%20unreported.&text=Members%20of%20the%20military%3A%2043,10%25%20of%20male%20victims%20reported.

2. Condemning the conduct unequivocally also shouldn't be hard, but so many men knee jerk react with excuses about how someone could wind up in that situation - that is NOT an acceptable response.

Sexual assault is wrong. Period. No circumstances can re-allocate even a portion of the blame to the victim.

3. Amplifying their voices is so important & I'm not just talking about retweeting (though that is good & should be done). If you're in a position to influence the gaming industry, make sure company decisions are impacted. If you're not, help these stories reach the right places.

One of the biggest reasons sexual assaults aren't reported is that the victim fears nothing will come of it; that they'll go through that additional pain for nothing; that society will tell them what happened wasn't really wrong. We cannot allow that to happen.

4. Becoming a more active advocate is the most challenging step to articulate because there are so many ways in which men can do more for women in this industry.

Let's start by acknowledging that there is a huge problem on this front, and not just because women are overwhelming the victims of sexual harassment/assault and what has come out over the past 72 hours is barely scratching the surface of that problem.

Have you taken steps 1-3 or are you planning to start right now? Great! That puts you in the minority. Hold others accountable when you see they're not doing the same.

Are you a leader at a gaming company? Great!

When you look around the room at senior leadership meetings, how many women are in that room?

Right, that's what I thought. That's a problem. Start actively trying to fix it.

Do you play video games? Great!

When you observe other players using sexist insults or harassing a fellow player for being a women, do you say anything? I thought not.

This behavior is rampant because it has become normalized. We need to actively combat that.

I could go on and on. The core point I'm trying to make is that steps 1-3 are great, but they're really only the bare minimum. They're about not being a part of the problem. Step 4 is about being part of the solution, and there are infinite ways you can do that. Start today.