Alright so in general, this community handled this whole ordeal really well during the investigation. But now that it's closed, turning it into a "meme" is still really harmful for anyone who has been sexually abused or has gone through the process of reporting sexual abuse.

Just, keep in mind that the jokes you make may seem harmless to you, but for people who have experienced this kind of thing (on both sides), it makes the community feel less like a safe space.

Yesterday, a bunch of people on the Discord were ripping the original story to pieces in a way that almost seemed victim-blame-y. While yes, I tended to agree with a lot of what those people were saying, anyone reading the reaction would likely feel uncomfortable or unable to come forward in the community if they had experienced sexual abuse without being "ripped apart."

I didn't see that much here on ChaCha, but it's worth a reminder. So, just something to keep in mind while y'all are celebrating.

Edit: y'all this should not be considered a "hot take"

Edit2: alright this has been extraordinarily exhausting so I'm gonna just.. call it quits for a lil bit on this. toodles.

  • Pezevenk [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    See, this is why this can keep happening. It's not possible to "disprove" it. Anyone can say "x sexually assaulted me" completely anonymously and completely refusing to provide any specifics between fanfic. No chat logs, coming up with excuses for why the police report is lost or whatever, more excuses to not talk to the other alleged victims and lying about admins tampering with dms etc. What is more, the internet is FULL of people who will absolutely do that given the opportunity. Believing victims isn't about lending credibility to whatever nonsense accusation by some anonymous bloop on the internet with nothing more behind it. It hurts victims because it ends up casting doubt on actual allegations. There should be a strict line in the sand, you shouldn't lend credence to everything. Everyone should just forget about this pathetic shit.

    • a_blanqui_slate [none/use name, any]
      ·
      4 years ago

      There was a subsequent allegation about an hour after the first that was targeted at another mod that got memory holed for being an obvious op so it's clear the notion that we have to take every obviously contrived allegation incredibly seriously and somberly is a fiction.

      • emily [she/her,they/them]
        ·
        4 years ago

        .... not really sure what you're trying to accomplish with this one tbh. so uh, who decides what gets taken seriously and what doesn't?

        • a_blanqui_slate [none/use name, any]
          ·
          4 years ago

          Right, and the point isn't that she should now be suspended pending investigation, because those allegations were clearly on their bad faith wreckers. The point is someone is not being problematic for also thinking that Beatnik's accuser was a bad faith wrecker on their face, because as I've documented elsewhere, Beatnik's accuser was actually far less credible than a simple "Mod-so-and-so sexually assaulted me".