Even The Wolf likely can't clean up Harvey Weinstein's pending troubles

There would be no decision. That's the elegance of it. The accuser is to be believed. That's uncontroversial, right? If you veer from that, here or elsewhere, you face shaming.

I'm not sure how it would do more harm than good. Only 2 percent of sex crime accusations are false. The vast majority of them are revealed to be such almost immediately. We are literally talking about a handful of wrongful convictions in exchange for thousands and thousands of sex criminals facing justice when they would not have under current due process standards.

Unless ... unless ... deep down in the places we don't talk about at parties we don't really believe accusers at the rate and to the degree we say we do.

 

But you're not trolling.

 

What is inaccurate in that paragraph?

 

You're responding to an imaginary post. I didn't say your idea was innacurate; I said it was too dumb to be taken seriously. Likewise, the opinions you express to support your claim -- "The accuser is to be believed." and "That's not controversial, right?" -- are wholly manufactured by you and intentionally absolute, to a point of absurdity, to prove a point that exists only in your mind.

 

If a woman comes forward with an allegation, and the investigating officer or lawyer or reporter or whomever she tells responds to her claim by saying, "I believe you. Now, we're going to have perform a thorough investigation, ask you some uncomfortable questions and collect evidence in ways that may be uncomfortable, but I believe you," I don't think you'll find many women who feel patronized. If that woman tells an officer or lawyer and they respond, "Thanks for sharing, I'll just have to wait until I have all the facts before I believe this claim," she's going to feel a hell of a lot worse (even if there's nothing inherently wrong with wanting to gather all the facts).

Maybe you feel it's patronizing, but I'd bet most victims would view it as supportive and empathetic. And I think that's an important part of this equation, is letting victims feel comfortable enough to come forward so that the investigative and judicial processes can perform their functions.

I notice the women on the board are staying far away from this discussion, but I'd be curious to hear their thoughts on it.

 

Yeah, I do.

 

How do you think victim of sexual assault feels about it?

 

Awesome up until the point when her case gets dismissed, as commonly happens.

Then she probably feels patronized.

 

Or not.

 

I can see that. Most would understand that the officers and prosecutors are constrained by due process.

 

It sure would be great if we hadn't run off most of the women from this place and they would weigh in here.

 

Yes. Both of them.