At one of his shows the other night, Bill Cosby responded to hecklers and then made a joke when a woman said she was going to buy a drink that “You have to be careful about drinking around me.” Ha ha, Bill Cosby. That’s like Jerry Sandusky cracking a joke about babysitting your kids or Charles Manson jesting that he offers a great prenatal care program. It’s disgusting that he would even joke about it. His defenders cry out for “evidence” and yet it’s clear there can be no physical evidence (obviously) when decades have passed between incident and admission.
The lack of physical evidence, however, does not mean that Cosby is innocent of these accusations. What Cosby (allegedly) did to these women falls more under the heading of date rape than outright rape since he was (allegedly) drugging them into submission rather than beating or intimidating them into having sex with him. And date rape is the least reported form of sexual assault. Statistics are on his accusers’ side.
• Between 50%-90% of rapes go unreported depending on circumstance
• Date rape makes up 50-75% of sexual assault
• 80% of the time, the victim knows her rapist
• 98% of rapists will never spend a day in jail or be held accountable
This is the reality. If you’re a woman, there’s a one in five chance you’ve been the victim of sexual assault. If you haven’t, one of your close friends or relatives has – government statistics prove this out. One in three women has either been a victim of rape, abuse or stalking. More than 1.3 million women each year are raped/sexually assaulted. This is tragic and nothing for Bill Cosby to joke about even if he’s 100% innocent of these accusations (which is clearly doubtful).
And given that black women and mixed race women are statistically more likely to be raped in the USA than white or Asian women, it’s an absolute travesty that that some prominent black women, like Phylicia Rashad and Vivica Fox are defending Cosby and siding with him against women of color like Beverly Johnson that have come forward to tell her story. Cosby defenders say these women are coming forward now for money. No – they are coming forward now for justice that they could not get when they were younger.
The women that Cosby (allegedly) attacked were much younger than him, struggling or just starting out in their careers and that were scared to speak up against a much older, wealthier, powerful man. Think about it. Cosby had high powered attorneys, power in the industry and overwhelming influence over public opinion. These women are now parents of women the same age as they were when Cosby (allegedly) attacked them. They are now financially stable and secure enough in their careers to be in a position to speak up.
It does Beverly Johnson’s or Janice Dickinson’s reputations no good to speak out against Bill Cosby. Yet they are doing it. Johnson is successful and has her own money. Dickinson is set to marry a millionaire (though, admittedly, she has had money troubles in the past). It does not make these women look good to come forward, yet they did and more continue to. Knowing that Cosby still has huge influence and acceptance in both black and white communities is a deterrent to them coming forward.
These women knew they would be called liars. They knew they would be accused of going after his money. They knew all this would be said against them. They knew the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution had passed. They knew there was no evidence to support their truth-telling. But still they came forward knowing there would be immense backlash and that, ultimately, not only might Cosby continue to go unpunished for his (alleged) crimes, but they might be the ones damaged.
Actress, model, attorney, artist, journalist, waitress, nurse, secretary, club manager – these are just some of the careers of the more than 30 women that have accused Cosby of some form of sexual assault usually involving drugging – all involving non-consensual sexual activity. They are a cross-section of races, personalities, ages and careers. Their common connection is that, at one time or another, they crossed the path of Bill Cosby and caught his eye.
It’s a real shame that anyone is blindly defending Bill Cosby at this point. I can understand taking a “wait and see” stance to see how the story unfolds, but stating unequivocally that his man could not have committed these crimes is appalling. And for him to crack a joke about rape in the midst of this controversy shows just how much of an (alleged) monster Bill Cosby really is. Even if he is (insert mocking laughter here) completely innocent of these accusations, rape is not something to joke about.
Ever.
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