This post discusses sexual assault and harassment, and may be triggering for some readers.
Right now, we're experiencing what can best be described as the second wave of the #MeToo movement.
The movement, which was first started by activist Tarana Burke in late-2017, led thousands of women to share their stories of sexual assault and sexual harassment within multiple industries.
Now, in a new wave of allegations, multiple women have come forward with allegations against several high-profile men in Hollywood, including Chris D'Elia, Justin Bieber, Ansel Elgort, and Danny Masterson.
In 2019, Mamamia's daily news podcast, The Quicky, investigated what it's really like to report a sexual assault. Post continues below.
As the second wave of #MeToo seemingly picks up, the response to the allegations made in recent weeks are raising questions about the intense scrutiny women face when they take their allegations public.
In the cases that have arisen in the past month, the response to the women making these allegations has been largely the same.
In fact, it seems there's an age-old question that tends to come up time and time again in the face of sexual assault and harassment allegations.
If you got sexually assaulted, why didn't you just report it to the police?
Why didn't you report it sooner?
Why are you only bringing this up now?
Whether a case is high profile or not, victims of sexual assault are often incredibly reluctant about coming forward.
While there are countless reasons why are victim may be cautious about coming forward about their assault, one Twitter user has demonstrated just one of those reasons.
In a Twitter thread which has since gone viral, Twitter user @sophiechiaka shared a list of disturbing quotes from judges in court during rape and sexual assault trials.
The quotes present a disturbing precedent of how women who report sexual assault are often victim-blamed in court.
Here are just some of the examples provided within the thread, which you can read in its entirety here:
The judge who told a jury that when a woman says no, she doesn't necessarily mean it.
In April 1990, British judge Raymond Dean told the jury in a rape trial:
The judge who claimed an eight-year-old victim didn't suffer.
When responding to an eight-year-old girl who had been sexually abused for a year, Judge Hutton said:
The judge who hoped a rapist would keep his job.
In 1988, Judge Hutton told a guilty rapist:
The judge who responded to a man who raped his ex-wife.
In 1987, judge Kenneth Jupp gave a man a two-year suspended sentence for raping his ex-wife, telling the court:
The judge who praised a rapist for wearing a condom.
Upon giving a rapist a lighter sentence of three years, judge Arthur Myerson said:
The judge who claimed the victim "didn't put up a fight".
In 2008, California superior court judge Derek Johnson said in court:
The judge who told a victim to "keep your knees together".
In a rape trial in 2014, Canadian federal judge Robin Camp badgered the alleged victim, telling her:
The judge who praised a convicted rapist.
In 2017, Utah judge Thomas Low praised a convicted rapist, telling the court:
The judge who claimed a victim was "flattered" by her attacker.
In 2017, Canadian judge Jean-Paul Braun claimed that a teenage girl may have welcomed the advances of her 49-year-old attacker:
Feature Image: Getty.
If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.
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