Give the gift of not re-traumatizing victims of assault this Christmas

There is a very small, obscure controversy going on the world today. It involves a website that releases secret government documents blahblahblah. I do not care about this. Clearly this is the next step of the internet, and it will keep happening. I'm kind of okay with more transparency/knowing what diplomats really think. But whatever, the real problem  I'm having is that some douchebag who runs this website probably assaulted some ladies in Sweden. You can read about the allegations here (though the bottom of the article starts to get kind of icky). Because Sr. Douchebag Assange is not accused of jumping out of the bushes to rape strangers, and actually "just" refused to wear condoms and was sleazy and coercive, etc. means that this is all a conspiracy. This is totally just a political "honeytrap" meant to discredit WikiLeaks BLAHBLAHBLAH fucking bitches always making up rapes for the CIA.

Okay, so noted loudmouth with largely good intentions Michael Moore thinks it's totally a coordinated attack and bailed Douchessange out of jail. Also, he and other noted talker with mostly good intentions Keith Olbermann are totes convinced that these rape charges are trumped-up and politically motivated and let's just give out the accusers' personal information so that they can get harassed into shutting up. Because this guy is an awesome football player my favorite musician a political hero, he can't possibly have been in the wrong ever. Besides, those ladies wanted to fuck him, what were they doing going making demands about what that should entail or that they should take safety measures or whatever, whiny bitches. Anyway, the whole situation is toxic and terrible. Some supposedly progressive dudes can't seem to understand that even if the pursuit of these charges has been nudged along by Assange's political enemies, that doesn't mean he didn't rape anybody.

Awesome hilarious blogger and all-around badass Sady Dole has been monitoring this situation assiduously. She has started a Twitter trend to confront Moore about his rape apologism (#MooreandMe), following his example as a supposed voice for the oppressed. As she explains:

Hashtag, #MooreandMe. User, @MMFlint. As long as it takes, until we get an explanation, an apology, and preferably $20,000 for a rape crisis or anti-sexual assault organization of his choice. We still believe in standing up, even if the man whose stand we believed in was just a character in a movie. Was never real at all.

In a non-shocking turn of event, rape apologists, misogynist trolls, and famous white defenders have been attacking Sady, understandably wearing her down. Even Keith Olbermann has shut down his Twitter because anti-rape activists are making him feel kind of bad for being a rape apologist or something. But whatever, this is not meant to be a comprehensive account of the situation. Mainly this is a post in solidarity with Sady. Because whatever the political situation, it is never acceptable to smear survivors of assault. Because guess what, even if you suspect for whatever reason that someone is making a fake accusation (which happens so rarely, it's not even worth mentioning--it's just an excuse busted out every time somebody's role model turns out to maybe not be so nice to women), that's the police's job. And there are LOTS of problems with our legal system (not sure about Sweden, but it sounds like they take sexual assault more seriously than Americans do), but that doesn't mean that there are not victimized women. Efforts to discredit and silence victims is exactly why so many instances of assault go unreported, it's actually more traumatizing to seek legal justice than it is to live with a rapist going unpunished.

So this is all to say, go Sady! Buck up! And I am following her lead and donating to an organization that helps assault survivors. As she pointed out, RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network) donations will be matched up until December 31. So I'm giving $50, which will result in a $100 donation to resources for survivors. I will also use my largely neglected Twitter feed to encourage Michael Moore to face up to his role in perpetuating a rape culture. I encourage you all to do the same! Or similarly!