Once again, the media has been overwhelmed with multiple cases of sexual violence involving high-profile celebrities, and even local celebrities we may personally know. We are seeing increasingly divided public opinion, ranging in extremes; from calling to ‘cancel’ the careers of people who are involved in these cases, to denying violence is possible. Suddenly, and despite the lack of support and solidarity for survivors of sexualized violence, everyone is comfortable sharing their opinion behind the privacy and anonymity of their computer or phone screen. 

The media has been weaponized to sway public opinion, and these “hot takes” are not only void of context, but often fail to interrogate the systems which uphold rape culture and foster sexualized violence in the first place. When sexualized violence is sensationalized, space is not created to interrogate rape culture myths such as the ‘perfect victim’, or to acknowledge the structural conditions that prevent survivors from coming forward to seek healing and justice. When we fail to make space for these deeper conversations, we are silencing survivors instead of supporting them.

Despite how shocking these cases may be, we must never forget that sexual violence is real and the way that we engage with this content in personal conversations and online impacts survivors. Celebrities might never interact with, or be directly impacted by the assumptions, memes, and comments being made of them, however we cannot forget that there are survivors who engage with this content who will feel the impact of our uninterrogated compliance with rape culture. What we say when high profile cases make the news can have a profound impact on the people in our lives who may have experienced sexualized violence.

Resisting the urge to give into sensationalization can be difficult.

Here is our list of considerations to reflect on before contributing to problematic conversations.

• Believe Survivors
  • Consider why anyone of a marginalized gender would want to draw the attention of a society where survivors are often vilified for speaking out about their trauma. Survivors are courageous for simply continuing to envision a future beyond the abuse they faced, and even more so for the strength needed to relive what may have been the hardest part of their life when they do share their experience.

• Never expect a survivor to share details about the violence they experienced
  • Reliving the traumatic experience might be triggering. Expecting survivors to share their experience can often lead to survivors isolating themselves to avoid questioning. Understand that you are not entitled to an explanation. Survivors do not owe you clarity.

• Be mindful of the ways you might be adding to the survivor’s burden by reacting poorly to their disclosure
  • By reacting explosively, you may be planting the belief that they will be met with the need to do more emotional labour every time they share their experience. Not only does the survivor have to deal with the weight of the trauma itself, the added work of having to navigate your feelings is exhausting. Thank them for sharing, and validate their experience.

• Consider how your words and actions might impact survivors in your life 
  • Survivors may not disclose their trauma to you, and they don’t need to. Consider that statistically, we all know many survivors. This means it’s important for us to think critically about the impact of our words when choosing to comment on incredibly public cases of sexual violence. We need to be vigilant in not perpetuating rape myths and narratives that will further silence and shame survivors.

• Contribute to the notion that there is an expansive understanding of justice and accountability which doesn’t necessarily involve a criminal legal framework
  • The reality is our current legal systems are not equipped to respond to the complexity of sexualized violence in a way that is humanizing to both survivors and people who cause harm. It does very little to address the systems that contribute to and uphold harm (patriarchy, capitalism, racism, transphobia, etc.). Justice as it is defined now is often driven by the need to place one person’s humanity over another. Consider learning more about transformative justice and community accountability, frameworks that aim to address violence without causing more violence.

The sensationalization around cases of sexualized violence brings opportunity for us to confront our complicity in rape culture. Ultimately, we must not add to the burden survivors carry. Care for the members of our community who are in all stages of recovery from sexual trauma. They are all deserving of our compassion and empathy.