Content warning; Rape, sexual assault
My apologies to She’s Progressive readers as this week I
won’t be uploading Herstory. A topic has arisen that I must talk about. This
post will be less of a cohesive, informative article and more of a long rant,
so again my apologies. If you are affected by the aforementioned content
disclaimers, I advise you to skip this week’s post. We will be back next week
with Herstory, and in the meantime please look after yourself. Xx
Yesterday, ex-Manchester City player Benjamin Mendy was
found not guilty on a count of rape and attempted rape. Unsurprisingly, the
news seems to have been received scarily well by football fans, with many men
online frothing at the mouth at the opportunity to attack the women who accused
him. Whenever situations like this occur, particularly those that include
beloved football players, you’d think Twitter strictly consisted of
professional defence barristers or eyewitnesses with the sheer amount of people
who see the words ‘not guilty’ and don’t rub two brain cells together and use
some critical thinking skills. ‘Legend.’, ‘How can people who falsely accuse
innocent people get away with it’, and ‘Why do women just love to make things up’,
are just a handful of responses I’ve seen from men online falling over
themselves to defend Benjamin Mendy.
According to Rape Crisis, 67,169 cases of rape were reported
to the police in 2022 alone. Of those cases, only 1,276 (that’s 2 in 100) resulted
in a charge, let alone a conviction. That is approximately 2% of reported cases
that are given an outcome past reporting. It is essentially a lottery. Contrary
to what men online think, accusing someone of rape isn’t a la-di-da Saturday
afternoon activity one may feel like doing in pursuit of fame or monetary gain.
It costs on average £8,500 for private prosecution, and if your claims are even
taken to court, it’s typically a three-year wait until trial. The criminal
justice process is incredibly long and drawn out. The police don’t investigate
for no reason, it is to ensure that claims are credible, which makes it highly
unlikely for a person’s false allegation to make it to the courtroom.
Now I’ll remind you, not guilty does NOT mean innocent. It
is very easy to think that. It is much harder to grapple with the idea that a
bad person can get away with crime and maybe, just maybe, the legal system in
the UK is inherently flawed. But just because Benjamin Mendy has been found not
guilty, does not make him an innocent man. You may hear phrases like ‘sure
beyond reasonable doubt’ and that is because if the jury has even a sliver of
doubt on a person’s guilt, they must be found not guilty. Which isn’t helped by
the relentlessness of the job of a defence barrister. The victim will be
examined, often brutally, by the defence. Their whole purpose is to defend the
accused, and they do everything they can to convince the jury of their
innocence. Not to mention, someone with immense wealth, like Benjamin Mendy
will have access to the best legal team money can buy, so I don’t doubt that
helped with the outcome. If you haven’t already, I recommend watching Prima
Facie, a horrifying insight into what happens to rape complainants in the
courtroom. Previous relationships, previous allegations, drug or alcohol use
are all called into question to try and make the jury doubt the complainant’s
credibility.
Benjamin Mendy was accused by 13 different women of multiple
different sexual crimes. 13 different women. There is never smoke without fire.
I’ve seen a lot of Mendy defenders claim that these women only accused him for
their own financial benefit or for fame and notoriety. But may I ask, without
googling, name one. Just one. Can you? I couldn’t. I just need someone to point out what these women gained from this. His supporters claim it
was to ruin his career. I don’t see that at all. Women are not gold-digging,
malicious, evil, life-ruining creatures who set out to destroy the lives of
successful men. These men are too clouded by their own misogyny to see that
maybe these women weren’t trying to destroy an innocent man but to share their
stories to protect other women.
As someone who has faced sexual assault, this situation is
completely nauseating. Hundreds upon thousands of men online will more than
happily share their contempt for women and slur misogynistic vitriol in defence
of a man who they do not know, all while hiding behind a screen. These men
don’t care. They don’t care that actual survivors and victims can see their
comments lending their unwavering support to a potential** rapist, and
completely vilifying those who speak up. This sets the precedent that a man’s
success is more valuable than a woman’s trauma and that those who have
experienced rape or assault should stay quiet. I’ve seen a lot of Mendy’s
supporters wallow in the idea that he’s had two years of his life taken away. To
that I say, he will live. He will carry on. He has an estimated net worth of
£30 million and an army of hundreds of thousands of men, including incredibly
famous and successful footballers, supporting him. He’ll be fine. But victims
of rape and assault don’t have that luxury. It is imperative that we extend our
empathy and understanding to victims so we can foster a society where it is
safe for people to speak up.
**Of course, he is technically not guilty, but as stated that means nothing so I want to use the term potential as loosely as possible.
If you have been affected by topics mentioned in this article,
help and support is always available. No matter when it happened, Rape Crisis
has a 24/7 support helpline available to listen. Call 0808 500 2222 or chat
online:
https://247sexualabusesupport.org.uk
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