I don’t think some people realize how an act of abuse ripples out. A person misuses their power, abuses and exploits the people around them, that person has harmed those people directly. The harm continues, though, as it sits on the victim/survivor(s). The weight carried is a harm. If and when victim/survivors choose to speak up, they can lighten their load. But the response after speaking up rarely turns into accountability, and the harm continues.
When a person who has abused others and has taken no accountability for their actions is given a platform, or is allowed to retain their platform, that is a harm to every victim/survivor who recalls the platforms their abusers have been offered, the platforms they have been denied. These harms are amplified for minoritized communities, against whom certain kinds of harms were, and still are, normalized through generations of repeated damage. When I know a person who has abused their significant other is rewarded in our field, I ask myself what my life would’ve been like if my abusive ex had been in our field as well. It is easier, it seems, to be taken seriously as a victim/survivor when the perpetrator is someone who can be easily dismissed, an outsider. I think of the man who lived in my building and would get me alone in the elevator so he could ask me intrusive questions or show me his genitals; if he were a prominent member of my academic field, would I be able to say so much in a blog post? But then a prominent member of my academic field – more than one, I have no doubt – sexually harasses my peers, and I am reminded of our precarity, our disposability, when the perpetrator is not someone so easily demonized or cast out. It hurts me. I am mad at myself for being thankful that the people who have directly harmed me have little to no power over me, and I feel the pain of being cornered, I feel the weight of harm, when the platform is occupied by my peers’ abuser.
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AuthorI am a higher education professional and sporadic blogger. I have opinions and tell puns. Archives
May 2020
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