Let's Stop Calling Bill Cosby's Victims 'Accusers'
Let's Stop Calling Bill Cosby's Victims 'Accusers'
More than two dozen women so far have alleged sexual misconduct against the iconic comedian. When journalists and bloggers call these victims "accusers" it perpetuates a culture of victim blaming.
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But one aspect of old and new media coverage of the allegations against Cosby takes us backward: the widespread journalistic and social media convention of referring to Cosby's alleged victims as his "accusers."
The presumption of innocence is an important legal and moral principle, and it is always worth emphasizing that allegations of assault are not proof of it. The roiling controversy surrounding the recent infamous Rolling Stone magazine article about an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia in 2012 stands as a stark reminder that rape accusations are a very serious matter, and responsible authorities -- journalistic and legal -- need to proceed with extreme caution when leveling them.
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Nonetheless, calling the alleged victims of sexual violence "accusers" is an act of subtle but profound victim blaming that has the potential to silence future victims and set back the momentum of the growing anti-rape movement. The mechanism by which this victim-blaming plays out comes at the intersection of gendered belief systems and linguistic practices. It reflects both pre-existing cultural biases about issues of male sexuality, sex and power, as well as deeply rooted misogyny and mistrust of women.
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Referring to the alleged victim as the "accuser," however, reverses this process. She -- or he -- is no longer the sympathetic victim to whom something horrible was done. She is now the one who is doing something to him -- she's accusing him. It is her actions -- not his -- that become the object of critical scrutiny. And he is transformed into the victim -- of her accusation. Thus the use of the word "accuser" effectively shifts public support from the alleged victim to the alleged perpetrator.
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Fortunately, there is a simple solution at hand. People need to stop using the word "accuser." This is especially true of journalists, including headline writers, whose frequent and repeated use of the term over the past decade has normalized it in public discourse. People who report to the authorities or the media that they have been sexually assaulted should be described as "victims," or, if more caution is necessary or desired, "alleged victims."
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http://womensenews.org/story/media-stories/150120/lets-stop-calling-bill-cosbys-victims-accusers
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