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I've been doing a lot of soul searching based on some of the immense hate I got in the wake of this thread. I wanted to dive into the substance of every counter-argument, but I just don't have it in me. I do feel like I need to clarify one important point though... https://twitter.com/esportslaw/status/1275945172849709056
I need to repeat this fact: most victims of sexual assault never report it, in large part because we create an environment where reporting doesn't feel safe. We desperately need to solve this problem, and starting from the premise that we believe victims is an important step.
When we talk about believing victims, that doesn't mean saying the accused is guilty until proven innocent. It doesn't mean they don't get to share their side of the story. Giving the opportunity for both sides to be heard is necessary to reaching a just outcome.
The perfect world is one in which we listen what an accuser is saying and believe them because it's very uncommon to falsely accuse in this context. BUT, we also shouldn't be rushing to attack the accused until we get the other side of the story.
Once more facts on are on the table, I continue to stand by my point that "innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt" is not the correct approach.
This is the highest possible burden of proof, and if we hold accusers to that burden we're accepting the status quo in which sexual assault is rampant and members of our community rightfully feel unsafe to attend basic work functions.
As I mentioned in my thread, there are other standards that are used all the time to adjudicate disputes, which provide more balance in protecting the rights/interests of both the accused and the accuser.
If we go this down this path, it is true that we're more likely to villainize someone who is falsely accused. I don't take that lightly, and neither should you. We're talking about potentially ruining someone's life when they don't deserve it.
But if you're looking at the data and you think we need to prioritize the interests of those who have the potential to be falsely accused over the millions of sexual assault victims who are being failed by this utterly broken culture/system, I honestly don't know what to say...
