The Blame Game: Taylor Swift Delivers Emotional Thank You; PA Condemns Over 300 Priests As Perpetrators Of Sexual Abuse
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It's a year ago that Taylor Swift won her sexual assault case against Colorado DJ David Mueller, who sued her for $3 million in damages after she claimed he placed his hand under her skirt and grabbed her butt hile posing for a photo. Swift filed a countersuit asking for a symbolic $1 in damages, which the jury awarded her in winning her case.
Swift addresed the issue during an emotional speech for her Tampa Reputation concert. Thanking her fans for their support while stressing the need for better justice for sexual assault victims, Taylor said: "I guess I just think about all the people that weren’t believed and people who haven’t been believed and the people who are afraid to speak up because they think they won’t be believed. And I just wanted to say that I’m sorry to anyone who ever wasn’t believed because I don’t know what turn my life would take if people didn’t believe me when I said that something had happened to me. And so I guess I just wanted to say that we have so, so, so much further to go, and I’m so grateful to you guys for being there for me during what was a really, really horrible part of my life." via ELLE US
The pop star's words ring so relevant this morning, with publication of "a searing report" about bishops and other leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Pennsylvania covering up child sexual abuse by more than 300 priests over 70 years. The report covered six of the state's eight Catholic dioceses, identifying more tha 1,000 victims of sexual abuse at the hands of priests.
The instances of abuse are horrific, writes The New York Times. A priest raped a young girl in the hospital after she had her tonsils out; another victim was tied up and whipped with leather straps by a priest while another priest who was allowed to stay in ministry after impregnating a young girl and then arranging for her abortion.
The sexual abuse scandal has rocked the Catholic Church for more than 15 years, launched by explosive 2002 allegations in Boston. After paying billions of dollars in settlements and adding new prevention programs, the scandals continue, reaching deeply into the highest rants of the Church. The Pennsylvania report comes soon after the resignation of Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, who is accused of sexually abusing young priests and seminarians, as well as minors.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro, whose office initiated the investigation, said in a news conference, “They protected their institution at all costs. As the grand jury found, the church showed a complete disdain for victims.”
Shapiro said that the cover-up by senior church officials “stretched in some cases all the way up to the Vatican.”
No one believes that Taylor Swift having some slick dude's hand up her butt is on an equivalent plane of offence with the abuse of children by Catholic priests and bishops. But the common characteristic of not believing victims is universal in the Vatican power structure. One of the core principles in the #MeToo movement is not only the event itself but the disdain for victims and tactics to destroy their credibility.
My own young woman experience with the Catholic Church was transformative. It's the source of my adamnt defense of women and the #MeToo movement and my loathing of sexual predators everywhere. After what I've experienced first hand and watched sadly from the sidelines in the unrelenting torrent of stories about power and sexual abuse, I have no belief in these worldwide morality men who present themselves as God's jury to shattered women and children. It's totally disgusting, frankly, and just the reality of another patriarchal institution being shattered before our eyes. Unfortunately, as the truth is revealed, the lives of victims cannot be restored -- although great progress can be made. When one is erroneously judged or -- worse yet -- assaulted by a man posing as God, the guilt is lasting and most often forevermore.
It's the Scarlet Letter that we all wear -- and let there be no doubt -- that the placement of the Scarlet Letter on victims of sexual assault is another form of patriarchal power. ~ Anne
