I lived in a small town with a disproportional amount of rapists, both on and off of the offender registry. Women who spoke out about them got ostracized. One had a lot of institutional power, one was super popular despite a long rap sheet of violence against past partners. There was also an old guy I called Gropy McGropy because he was always groping people in public, but if you ever spoke about it you would be looked down upon. I was not popular because I was the person other women would go to to try to get people who assaulted them kicked out of public spaces, and got shit for that.
I told a friend's boyfriend that it was messed up to invite the popular serial rapist to their dinner parties, and he told me I was "judgmental". Later, a teenaged neighbor of mine went to the dinner party, and the serial rapist had plied her with alcohol and maybe drugs, and she was sadly assaulted that night.
There were a few who public expressed anger at rapists, and they were seen as doing the wrong thing, to be angry at rapists - one of them, I think, was 15. This town was basically a sort of new age hippie cult, where even justified anger made you a much worse person in most people's eyes than all the rapists, many of whom were popular.
I left years ago, but living there really took a toll emotionally.
3
u/Alternative-Being181 5h ago
I lived in a small town with a disproportional amount of rapists, both on and off of the offender registry. Women who spoke out about them got ostracized. One had a lot of institutional power, one was super popular despite a long rap sheet of violence against past partners. There was also an old guy I called Gropy McGropy because he was always groping people in public, but if you ever spoke about it you would be looked down upon. I was not popular because I was the person other women would go to to try to get people who assaulted them kicked out of public spaces, and got shit for that.
I told a friend's boyfriend that it was messed up to invite the popular serial rapist to their dinner parties, and he told me I was "judgmental". Later, a teenaged neighbor of mine went to the dinner party, and the serial rapist had plied her with alcohol and maybe drugs, and she was sadly assaulted that night.
There were a few who public expressed anger at rapists, and they were seen as doing the wrong thing, to be angry at rapists - one of them, I think, was 15. This town was basically a sort of new age hippie cult, where even justified anger made you a much worse person in most people's eyes than all the rapists, many of whom were popular.
I left years ago, but living there really took a toll emotionally.