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Cosby to teach young men how to avoid sexual accusations

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In one of the most batshit crazy videos you’ll see this month, Bill Cosby’s spokespeople announced that the actor will be “going back to work” by doing talks in town halls educating young people about sexual assault.

More specifically – he will be giving talks to young people on how to avoid sexual assault accusations. Not sexual assault - sexual assault accusations.

You know what? I can give a talk on that. It will be very short and along the following lines: If you want to avoid being accused of sexual assault and rape, then don’t sexually assault or rape anyone. Simple.

The actor is also said to educate people on the changing laws. As spokesperson Ebonee Benson says: “The statute of limitations for victims of sexual assault is being extended”.* 

Am I reaching if I say that statement implies that Cosby will be educating would-be rapists that their crimes will now legally be allowed to be held against them in many years to come? Because ironically, this same statute of limitations is the reason why many of Cosby’s accusers couldn’t formally press charges. The accusations against him go back five decades, so the statute of limitations has served him very well.

False accusations

But since Cosby has not been found guilty yet, people can still make the claim that accusations against him are false.

"And what about false accusations in general?" I hear you say. Well, what about them?

No, seriously, tell me how many people you know went to jail for rape on a false accusation? I am guessing that number is not high.

Not only do most rape victims not report their rapes because the justice system is so incredibly skewed to protect the rapist in favour of the victim, but when they do, they almost never get convictions.

Take Cosby himself as an example. He is still scot-free even though more than 50 women have accused him of sexual assault. I am going to repeat that. MORE THAN 50 DIFFERENT WOMEN HAVE COME FORWARD TO ACCUSE HIM OF SEXUAL ASSAULT and he has not been convicted yet. 

So sure, you can decide not to believe the victim, it’s very common. But if you’re not believing 55 of them then maybe the problem lies with you?

And when convictions do happen?

But what about those rapists who were found guilty because the evidence against them was overwhelming? What happens to them?

In the video, the spokesperson says Cosby will focus especially on educating young athletes because “they need to know what they’re facing, ah, when they’re hanging out and partying, when they’re doing certain things that they shouldn’t be doing.”

Like what? Raping unconscious women? Because that is another thing that keeps on happening.

I’m thinking of Brock Turner, the Stanford swimmer who raped an unconscious woman behind a garbage bin. Two young men caught him in the act and pulled him off her after which he tried to run away. His father famously wrote a heartfelt letter, asking that his son should not go to prison for “20 minutes of action”. Yes, "action."

The verdict? Guilty. The sentence? Six months in a county jail.

I’m also thinking of Steubenville where two football stars raped a 16 year-old girl, took pictures of her naked, unconscious body with what the victim claimed was his semen on her and circulated these images on social media.

The verdict? Guilty. The sentence? Richmond spent 9 months in detention. Mays spent 21 months in detention. Both of them are free today.

So forgive me if I don’t spend my nights lying awake over all these so-called false convictions. Even when rapists are found guilty they get away with a slap on the wrist.

The final and most out of touch part of this whole ridiculous video is where Ms Benson says that a brush against the shoulder can be considered as sexual assault these days.

Erm, no. Bill Cosby is not accused of brushing women against the shoulder. He is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting women when they were in no position to resist.

So seeing that he’s still a free man, it would seem he’s actually the perfect person to teach young men how to deal with sexual assault accusations. After all, he has been dealing with them for decades now. 

*Here in SA too – finally sexual abuse victims can now lay charges more than 20 years after their assaults.

 Disclaimer: The views of columnists published on W24 are their own and therefore do not necessarily represent the views of W24.

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