Believe All Women

Believe all women. What does that mean to you? I think the sentiment behind the message is in the right place. You don’t want to discredit those who come forward or deter them from doing so in any way. You want to support them and help them get the justice they deserve. In a perfect world, everyone who comes forward would be able to tell their truth and the perpetrator would be severely punished. But we don’t live in a perfect world. As painful as it is to acknowledge, people do lie… and sometimes they lie about this. I’ve talked to people who don’t want to acknowledge that side of the story. They feel it takes away from victims, makes people less likely to come forward, or maybe they just don’t believe that it happens. So what is the answer?

Part of me believes the only way we protect the victims and those who may be falsely accused is more thorough investigations and harsher punishments. What about the eyes of public opinion? Sometimes all it takes is an accusation. I don't know, it's a difficult conversation. What do you do? Is it better to believe everyone who comes forward and seek justice even if there’s a chance some of those accused are innocent? Is it better to presume innocence knowing that some who are guilty might walk free? What do you do?

Taken from Growing Pains with Nicholas Flores #44 - Samantha Biasca

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