Our society has systemically failed to hold people who abuse others accountable for a long time. While violence like rape and sexual assault are technically illegal, the most vulnerable people know that action rarely matches the letter of the law. To continue living in this world, marginalized communities—including women—have been using whisper networks advising who to avoid as a way to survive.
As we got to the digital age, the whisper networks took on new forms. Last year saw the creation and circulation of the Shitty Media Men list. It was a Google Doc spreadsheet where people could anonymously report “shitty” experiences with men in the media. The creator and contributors were unknown, until Moira Donegan outed herself amid reports that Harper’s was going to do it without her consent.
”The anonymous, crowdsourced document was a first attempt at solving what has seemed like an intractable problem,” she wrote, “how women can protect ourselves from sexual harassment and assault.” It was active for only a few hours before it was taken down.
A year after his name appeared on the list, writer and filmmaker Stephen Elliott filed a lawsuit against Donegan for $1,500,000 in damages for “wholly unsubstantiated allegations published in the List, particularly with regard to allegations about Plaintiff, contain[ing] numerous false statements alleging criminal sexual conduct on the part of Plaintiff.” His name was 13th on the list; under the Alleged Misconduct column, “rape accusations, sexual harassment” is the entry.
He’s not just suing Donegan; he also lists the other contributors as “Jane Doe defendants” and seeks to get their names. This puts many other people at risk for simply sharing their truths. The lawsuit argues they all “published defamatory allegations without corroborating evidence or a means of assessing the credibility of the claimants.”
This is an extension of what FLOTUS Melania Trump said on ABC: The idea that survivors cannot say anything unless they have corroborating evidence means that when it comes to sexual assault, everywhere is a court of law. The problem with this goes beyond its natural silencing of victims. It also misses the fact that speaking out isn’t always about punishment or retribution. Sometimes it’s for our own healing and sense of security—and the desire to help others avoid the same fate.
Even if this case doesn’t end in Elliott’s favor, the lawsuit still serves as an agent of retaliation. Now Donegan (and maybe others) need to find the time, money, and energy to respond to this in the courts. A GoFundMe for Donegan’s legal fees was quickly launched after the announcement of the lawsuit. As of this writing, it has raised over $57,000.
The people who attack victims aren’t upset about the violence they endured; they’re mad that victims dare name the people who created it.