So many politicians gave the same terrible response to the Roy Moore abuse allegations

The Washington Post has published a detailed account of allegations that Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore initiated a sexual encounter and pursued a relationship with a 14-year-old girl  when he was 32. 

As politicians  — and most Republicans — responded to the shocking story of underage sexual abuse, a problematic theme emerged. Each statement relied on the phrase “if proven true,” or a variation of that. 

That might sound logical on its face — the allegations against Moore, now 70, haven’t been adjudicated in a court of law — but the phrase allows the commenting politician to have it both ways while relying on negative stereotypes about survivors of abuse. Sex abuse is objectively bad, “if proven true” seems to say, but let’s not forget that these women could be lying.  Read more…

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Source: Mashable | So many politicians gave the same terrible response to the Roy Moore abuse allegations