I believe in the rule of law (e. g. innocent until proven guilty). I also believe one of the great things about our society is - when the justice system works properly (and we all know that's not guaranteed) - we don't just throw defendants to an angry mob. We even guarantee them a defense and a trial.
The following were tried and convicted and sentenced via proper channels:
- Charles Manson
- Timothy McVeigh
- Terry Nichols
- Jeffrey Dahmer
They're pretty much universally reviled yet we still put them through our (imperfect) justice system. I am well aware, as is everyone else, that there's also execution via police officer/suicide by cop. Our system, though,
when it is working properly, is a good thing.
Hence I'm not about to excoriate Takei without more supporting proof.
That having been said, it's also important for victims to feel they are believed, and that what they have to say won't just be dismissed out of hand, particularly when they are accusing someone with some degree of power. In fact, per the
Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, that is why a lot of victims don't come forward immediately.
Victims have lots of reasons to delay (some more legit than others):
- Being a minor at the time of the incident
- Fearing they will lose a job or the ability to get future jobs
- Threats of violence
- Fear they will be tarred with the brush of "s/he was asking for it", particularly if there is anything which the public or a defense attorney could have on them which would somehow support that, everything from single parenthood, to homosexuality, to a reputation for being easy, to wearing clothes believed to be provocative, to having a criminal record, to drug abuse at any time in their lives and not just at the time of the incident, to poverty (seen as a motivation to try to destroy someone or extort $$ from them), to having been in a relationship with the accused at any time in the past (ditto), to simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time, etc.
- Fear the public will side with the accused the first time, every time
- Fear they will not be believed, or even ridiculed
- Shame in the activity, particularly if it was consensual at one time, or if it started off as consensual and then turned into the opposite
Alison Arngrim and Corey Feldman talk about it here (in 2011):
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainmen...n-hollywood-just-tip-iceberg-experts-say.html
Are there people out there looking to make a buck and falsely accusing others? Sadly, yes. I'd like to see the ratio though. I suspect they are a small percentage of those who come forward.
Believing accusers but also not rushing to be judge, jury, and executioner of the accused is not a contradictory position.
