Believe the believable!

[LAS14]

I do think the pendulum once swung way to far in the direction of not believing women. But I think what we should be advocating for is "Believe the believable." I was very glad to see someone post (or maybe say in MSM) that in a court of law, it is perfectly OK to believe one person over another, to a point where there is no reasonable doubt, in a pure he-said, she-said situation. It's OK to find one person (e.g., Dr. Ford) that much more believable than the other (e.g., lying Kavanaugh). Even in a criminal trial.

But we should not advocate presuming women to be right before all sides are heard. This is not the same thing as saying that we presume that they are wrong.

On the other hand, I think it is legitimate to educate everyone to the fact (heard this week, presume to be true) that the percentage of false sexual assault allegations is about 5%, the same as the percentage for other crimes.

Let's not give the deplorables more ammunition.

[JHan]

1. I lean towards "treat allegations seriously".

I don't like the word "believe". Sometimes a rape is believed but dismissed, trivialized, rationalized and to me that's the problem. Attempts to draw attention to a victim being inebriated or dressing provocatively are all examples of not treating sexual assault allegations seriously.

Remember the first defense Republicans used was "Brett was just a boy" - so they might entertain that Ford was actually assaulted but rationalize that her pain and suffering is less than Brett's "reputation". Some of them have even said that even if Brett tried something, nothing actually happened - again minimizing the seriousness of assault.

So my approach is not belief, but treating allegations with the seriousness they require - Republicans are incapable of this unless they want to target a Democrat.

[mythology]

2. Nope, believe victims. Yes still verify before criminal punishment

But given the immense amount of bullshit victims get put through, I will take the side of believing them every time until there is evidence that they are lying.

Far too many people say that they take victims seriously but then make exceptions when it's convenient.