The news broke yesterday, Bill Cosby who was convicted of sexual assault in 2018, and today the news broke that because of a technicality, he is being released. This comes even after the parole board denied his parole. So where does this result fit into the MeToo Movement?
Today, as I have shifted through and read some of what the survivors have said about this, the only thing that I can think is …
This is part of the reason why women do not come forward. Knowing that you can bear your soul on the witness stand, tell a story that is so gut wrenching and relive every moment of it, and someone is found guilty and can be let out on a technicality, or not be convicted at all is very, very hard to swallow.
This case I can say feels like a, below to survivors today. It was a failure on those who prosecuted this case. They knew that they were not allowed to use his deposition and did it anyway. They knew this could potentially come up again, and because of that have allowed Cosby’s victims to be re victimized today. We have to do better. Our justice system has to do better.
It is time that we make laws that ensure that when a victim comes forward they are protected. These people are coming forward with one of the most vulnerable and traumatic times in their lives. That needs to be honored and protected. Telling this story is not something that is easy to do. It is also not something that is easy to hear, which is why I believe that we need to honor this reality that one and four women go through.
I am calling on our lawmakers to make laws that protect victims. Being a victim is already such a huge responsibility to oneself. One that requires someone to work on healing, and knowing that there is a really high probability that you will come forward with your story, and try to get justice for a crime that was committee against you, and it could end up being thrown out, or worse the person who victimizes you could receive a light sentence, no sentence at all, or be released because someone did not do their due diligence hinders crimes of sexual assault being reported.
So tonight one man is celebrating a win legally, his victims I can assure you are not sleeping well tonight. They will be up tonight thinking how the justice system failed them. Either because he is out, or it will be a reminder of how powerless they felt to come forward in the first place. It will bring up the regret of not speaking out sooner. It is a hard reality that a lot of survivors feel, and are feeling tonight. While one man sleeps soundly and gets to go back to his life. These women, his victims, and many more around the country, and world are just trying to survive tonight.
Stay Safe.
They also have a chat box on their website, if you need help reach out! You are believed and you will survive!
