[Lightspeed]

What should have happened was people should have been able to party without getting sexually assaulted. In what world is sexual assault acceptable?

However sexual assault does happen. So what should happen when sexual assault occurs? Well if the victims of sexual assault are our primary concern, such victims should have known safe places to turn for help, run by trained experts who know how to meet the specific needs of the individual involved as diverse as they are, with the aim of both recovery and accountability.

However this is not available. We have a handful of one-size-fits-all services, victim blaming when these services don't meet the needs of everyone. So how should we treat the victims of sexual assault? How do we avoid compounding tragedy upon tragedy, how do we put their needs before our needs?

There is no answer to this question because, regardless of what's unacceptable, we consistently put our own needs, our own beliefs and values, our own politics before the needs of victims. We get all hyped up about a few individuals, make demands in specific cases, but when it comes to the volume of trauma that exists, the institutions and shared values that perpetuate violence, we blame, we make excuses.

For years I've been pointing out, with evidence, that we're not doing enough to address sexual violence, that government policy is literally making it easier to perpetuate such violence. Mostly what I got back was personal attacks and escalating demands for evidence, if I wasn't completely ignored.

Seriously. Fuck you guys.