A New York gynecologist working at Columbia University sexually assaulted female patients for years. In 1994, one victim wrote a complaint to Columbia detailing her abuse, but the university never acted. Another victim has stated, “I did try to speak up when it happened in the hospital, and I was just told that I was overreacting, that it had to do with me just giving birth a few hours before.”
Years later, in 2014, the Manhattan District Attorney launched an investigation, and, in 2016, the doctor pled guilty to one felony count of a criminal sex act and one misdemeanor count of forcible touching. NBC News reported, “He surrendered his medical license . . . but served no jail time.” In 2020, the doctor was federally indicated on sexual abuse charges stemming from incidents from 1993 to 2012. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year. And, in 2021 and 2022, Columbia University settled two lawsuits brought by over 200 former patients for over $200 million.
That situation could have turned out so differently. If Columbia University had taken the complaints of those early victims seriously, it could have spared so many women from being sexually assaulted.
But even today, in 2024, people still don’t believe victims of sexual assault. Why, with all we know—after the #MeToo movement, the powerful men charged with committing sex crimes, and the information and news stories we have at our fingertips—is this still the case?
Why we Doubt Victims of Sexual Assault?
Our society regularly fails to believe victims. American Nightmare, a mini docuseries on Netflix, tells the horrifying story of law enforcement’s mishandling of the kidnapping and rape of a young woman. People blamed Bill Cosby’s accusers, even when 60 victims came forward. Harvey Weinstein flew under the radar for years, and when he was finally charged with rape, people questioned whether the victims willingly slept with him to get ahead.
Sexual assaults are all too common. According to RAINN, one out of every six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime, and every 68 seconds an American is sexually assaulted.
“We often don’t want to do the work of reevaluating our personal heroes, of accepting that a powerful man who is a pillar of the community, or a world-renowned artist, or even the leader of the free world, could secretly be a monster. We are even less willing to do that work if someone we know or love is accused. If a man has friends, admirers, and social status, he also has a defense against rape and a claim to sympathy in the public eye.”
The Vox article goes on to explain that we have a long history of blaming rape victims. For instance, women were expected to be chaste, rape was once treated as a property crime, and marital rape has only been illegal for a few decades.
Today, we still question women, and we still tend to think that women exaggerate and lie. This mistrust becomes especially problematic when we consider how trauma manifests itself. Victims’ memories are fragmented, they likely dissociated when the assault was occurring, and it is extremely painful for them to revisit memories of abuse. As a result, if the audience doesn’t understand trauma, victims may come across as unreliable.
The Impact of Failing to Believe Victims
When we fail to believe victims, victims suffer. Their mental and physical health worsens, and they risk becoming isolated and publicly shamed, among other things.
Moreover, when abusers aren’t held accountable, more people are at risk of getting hurt. According to Reveal, from the Center for Investigative Reporting, “Of the [sexual violence] cases that make it to law enforcement, the least likely outcome is an arrest of a perpetrator. The vast majority of complaints to law enforcement end with no trial, no conviction and, for victims, no closure – instead, they leave with a deep mistrust of the legal system, while some predators go free and attack again.”
Sometimes our legal system even punishes the victim, and “. . . the victim becomes the suspect, charged with false reporting – even when the attack actually occurred.”
Finally, when we don’t believe victims of sexual assault, it sends a message to other victims that they should not come forward. Victims of sexual assault typically fear shaming, blaming, retaliation, and not being believed—by law enforcement, prosecutors, their friends and families, the media, judges, and juries.
It is time to change our perspective on the credibility of sexual assault victims. When we are quick to judge, fail to understand trauma, and let our own biases get in the way, everyone loses—except the abuser.