When Indira Henard, director of the DC Rape Crisis Center, received the text message Wednesday, she thought she wasnB次元官网网址檛 reading her phone correctly. B次元官网网址淚ndira oh my god,B次元官网网址� said the message from a colleague. B次元官网网址淐osbyB次元官网网址檚 walking out of prison.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚 put on the news and there it was, and my heart just dropped,B次元官网网址� Henard said. B次元官网网址淚 thought about how all our survivors would be feeling.B次元官网网址�

During the afternoon, Henard says the centerB次元官网网址檚 hotline was B次元官网网址渙ff the hook, with survivors needing a place to process, and people asking, B次元官网网址榃hat happened? I donB次元官网网址檛 understand. He got convicted. Why would they do this?B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� The center held support sessions Wednesday evening and scheduled emergency sessions Thursday to deal with the news.

When America watched Bill Cosby B次元官网网址� once B次元官网网址淎mericaB次元官网网址檚 DadB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� go off to prison nearly three years ago, it was perhaps the most stunning development yet of the nascent #MeToo movement, which had emerged in late 2017 with allegations against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. Advocates and survivors of sexual assault hoped the movement would usher in an era of accountability for harassers and abusers B次元官网网址� and in many ways, it did. Victims have been increasingly emboldened in recent years to seek justice, even for years-ago abuse, hoping their allegations would be taken more seriously.

But on Wednesday, as the nation digested the equally stunning sight of Cosby released from prison, some worried it would have a chilling effect on survivors, who often donB次元官网网址檛 come forward because they donB次元官网网址檛 believe it will bring justice. And they wondered whether some of the movementB次元官网网址檚 momentum, already slowed by the pandemic, would be lost amid the feeling that another powerful man had gotten away with it B次元官网网址� albeit on a technicality.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 been a hard day,B次元官网网址� Henard said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a deeply painful moment B次元官网网址� not just for survivors in the Cosby case who came forward at great personal risk, but for all survivors.B次元官网网址�

For Tarana Burke, the prominent activist who gave the #MeToo movement its name, the first reaction to the Pennsylvania courtB次元官网网址檚 decision was B次元官网网址漵hock, definitely shock.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淎nd as the shock settled in and I started seeing some of the (social media) commentary coming in B次元官网网址� we, folks who do this work across the field, started huddling together to talk about what our response would be,B次元官网网址� Burke said in an interview. B次元官网网址淚t was just real concern for survivors. WeB次元官网网址檙e going to have a hard time sleeping.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淭he fact of the matter,B次元官网网址� added Burke, herself a sexual assault survivor in her youth, B次元官网网址渋s we wonB次元官网网址檛 see the ramifications of things like this for a while. People will look back and say, B次元官网网址業 was sexually assaulted a week before the Cosby verdict was overturned. And the way that the backlash hit the Internet made me change my mind.B次元官网网址� We wonB次元官网网址檛 hear those stories for a while. But those of us who have been through similar things B次元官网网址� we know exactly how this hits and where it lands and what the consequences are, unfortunately.B次元官网网址�

RAINN, the anti-sexual violence organization, said its hotline calls were up 24 percent Wednesday from the previous week. B次元官网网址淭his is one of those times I really pray people will read beyond the headlines,B次元官网网址� said Scott Berkowitz, executive director.

B次元官网网址淚 think the country believes the victims,B次元官网网址� Berkowitz said in an interview. What does worry him: B次元官网网址淢any survivors choose not to report to police, and for those who do report itB次元官网网址檚 a hard decision because they know itB次元官网网址檚 going to be a long, difficult slog through the justice process. It only makes sense to put yourself through that if you believe that at the end, thereB次元官网网址檚 a reasonable chance of getting justice.B次元官网网址� He said RAINN would try to educate people that B次元官网网址渢he issue that let Bill Cosby out is not an issue that comes up in a normal case.B次元官网网址�

ThatB次元官网网址檚 the point that Lisa Banks B次元官网网址� one of the nationB次元官网网址檚 most prominent attorneys in #MeToo issues with her partner, Debra Katz B次元官网网址� sought to drive home. B次元官网网址淭he message has to be very clear and simple, that this was a mistake by prosecutors, a very unusual one and a technicality that is unlikely to happen again,B次元官网网址� she said.

She was referring to the decision of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that District Attorney Kevin Steele was obligated to stand by his predecessorB次元官网网址檚 promise not to charge the comedian, though there was no evidence that agreement was ever put in writing.

B次元官网网址淪ure, the optics of the first major conviction of the #MeToo era walking out of prison is devastating,B次元官网网址� Banks said. B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 think thatB次元官网网址檚 something many people are going to get past very easily. But I will say one thing that (Cosby accuser) Andrea Constand said when the verdict came down: B次元官网网址楾ruth prevails.B次元官网网址� I still think I did. And I donB次元官网网址檛 want people to get discouraged by this, although I know itB次元官网网址檚 going to be hard.B次元官网网址�

For activist Anita Hill, the word B次元官网网址渢echnicalityB次元官网网址� wasnB次元官网网址檛 quite adequate to describe what she sees as a deeply flawed legal system stacked against survivors.

The issue of the non-prosecution agreement was, Hill said in an interview, B次元官网网址漴evealing in how hard it is for women to actively prove to prosecutors their claims should be heard in court by a jury.B次元官网网址� She also found it troubling that the court had left open the question of whether the prosecutionB次元官网网址檚 use of five additional accusers was improper, as Cosby had argued, B次元官网网址渃reating this other uncertainty.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淯ncertainty: thatB次元官网网址檚 the thing that keeps people from coming forward,B次元官网网址� said Hill, who famously came forward herself in 1991 with harassment allegations against Clarence Thomas in his Supreme Court confirmation hearing. B次元官网网址淭hey just donB次元官网网址檛 know whatB次元官网网址檚 going to happen. And you do know itB次元官网网址檚 going to be really brutal.B次元官网网址�

The general public, she said, likely wonB次元官网网址檛 understand the complexities of why it happened: B次元官网网址淭here was a jury verdict. He was in jail. Now heB次元官网网址檚 not.B次元官网网址�

As for #MeToo: B次元官网网址渋tB次元官网网址檚 a work in progress,B次元官网网址� said Hill, who now chairs the Hollywood Commission, which combats harassment in the entertainment industry. B次元官网网址淥ld systems are hard to change B次元官网网址� they require a different mindset. So I think we still have to keep pressing. We have the social movement, we have the public outrage. But we need reform of the systems that have been in place forever.B次元官网网址�

Henard said she and her colleagues at the DC Rape crisis center were spending Thursday listening to survivors. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 really concerned around the chilling effect this will have,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淧articularly for Black and brown survivors, this is cutting deep. We are bearing witness to tears and pain, survivors wondering, B次元官网网址榃hat is it going to take for a verdict to sit and not get turned over because of a technicality?B次元官网网址� This man raped not one, not two, not three not four but (dozens of) women, and so we canB次元官网网址檛 forget that,B次元官网网址� she said, referring to accusations against Cosby that never went to court, often because the statute of limitations had run out.

But Henard said WednesdayB次元官网网址檚 court decision, shocking as it was to so many, B次元官网网址渋n no way diminishes the good work of the #MeToo movement.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e made great strides in the last few years,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 more great things that have happened and will continue to happen. What this moment does is remind all of us, especially those of us who have boots on the ground, that thereB次元官网网址檚 still work to do.B次元官网网址�

Jocelyn Noveck, The Associated Press

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