Wow, an over two month late response to this. I came across this thread and it gave me pause, especially after watching the video. I think there is some misunderstanding about this kind of situation and in general those ranging from sexual harassment to rape today. False accusations are actually pretty rare, around the 2-10% range, depending on the study. While anyone can be a victim, the few false reports as detailed in
this article do have certain patterns. TLDR, parents of teenagers who want to cover up an accidental pregnancy or other matters, certain mental illnesses that cause people to believe they were assaulted or compulsively lie about it, and particular broken people with criminal records who have a history of criminal fraud and bizarre accusations.
The important issue is also those three groups are just as likely to experience such sex crimes because they are vulnerable and unconsciously or otherwise predators target them because they are less likely to be believed. As for why survivors don’t come forward and file a report,
this article written by a person who works with survivors explains why. The long and short of it is survivors have many reasons why they don’t come forward: the experience of being violated can induce shame, especially in this victim-blaming culture, they sometimes blame themselves. We think we would do more in those situations, without realizing how intense experiencing them really is. Survivors also try to downplay them to cope, even though the experience can lead to problems like depression or drug addiction. Also many don’t come forward because of the fear they would be disbelieved and harassed, and it’s horrible go through all that only for the perpetrator not to be charged or found not guilty (The U.S. Criminal Justice System isn’t built to deal with sex crime cases). With that in mind, many don’t even try to come forward with the situation, thinking it’s not worth it. This can be compounded by the feeling that they are the only victim of a perpetrator (But if one person comes forward, that does give courage for other survivors to do the same) and that they somehow brought it on themselves, as though the perpetrators are forces of nature you got in the way of instead of people that can and should change their behavior.
As for why so many people in positions of power and celebrity are seemingly revealed to engage in
this kind of conduct, there is the resentment of women being in the workforce, sexual gratification, interpreting interactions with female coworkers as sexual, attempting to compensate for insecurity by harassing others, not taking perspectives outside your own, etc. Power, insecurity, and entitlement can be a dangerous brew (especially when expectations about gender roles are in play). On another note, speaking about the U.S. but it’s probably applicable to other countries, we are terrible at teaching about consent and communication and dealing with our feelings, and that can lead to a lot of trouble.
I know this might seem not as relevant to Vic Mignoga, since the situations I’m mentioning seem “more intense.” But he seems to be too intimate with his hugs and kisses, especially with minors and as the adult he should respect boundaries. His colleagues apparently warned him to stop in the past. I know it’s upsetting when people you come to look up to are accused of bad things. I have also had to deal with people I liked and agree with not following what they preach. Cognitive dissonance is a thing. But I would argue not to dismiss these accusations out of hand. As guys, we can be quite clueless with what women have to go through. One in four women go through these kinds of situations. Even if the women in your life indicate they haven’t experienced that (and thank goodness if they haven’t), that doesn’t invalidate the experience of other women. If you have the time, I would suggest reading the articles in full. They make mention of some political figures that might rankle you but are very informative.
