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4.39 AVERAGE
4.39 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
influential, disturbing but important
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
This book is quite remarkable. It is well-researched, intersectional, and illuminating.
Tuerkheimer addresses what she coins, “the credibility complex.” A phrase regarding our proneness to doubt accusers and protect abusers. This complex falls along lines of power; wealth, race, status, citizenship, gender and sexual identity. It also falls into traps of what a victim and abuser “should look like.”
The further a victim is from a wealthy, white, cishet, woman who viciously fought back against her abuser, the less likely she is to be believed. The closer an abuser is to a wealthy, white, cishet, man who knew their victim, the more likely they will walk free, reputation in tact.
This book goes further and deeper into the complexities of credibility and how our society forms our biases. From our individual selves, systems and institutions, and the law, we are all biased. Our society has programmed us this way. Tuerkheimer gives us a way out.
My favorite takeaway was this: “For an allegation to be deemed credible, we must also believe that the conduct it describes is blameworthy, and that it’s worthy of our concern… This happened. It was wrong. It matters.”
Tuerkheimer addresses what she coins, “the credibility complex.” A phrase regarding our proneness to doubt accusers and protect abusers. This complex falls along lines of power; wealth, race, status, citizenship, gender and sexual identity. It also falls into traps of what a victim and abuser “should look like.”
The further a victim is from a wealthy, white, cishet, woman who viciously fought back against her abuser, the less likely she is to be believed. The closer an abuser is to a wealthy, white, cishet, man who knew their victim, the more likely they will walk free, reputation in tact.
This book goes further and deeper into the complexities of credibility and how our society forms our biases. From our individual selves, systems and institutions, and the law, we are all biased. Our society has programmed us this way. Tuerkheimer gives us a way out.
My favorite takeaway was this: “For an allegation to be deemed credible, we must also believe that the conduct it describes is blameworthy, and that it’s worthy of our concern… This happened. It was wrong. It matters.”
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
This book is a necessary read of the reality of sexual misconduct and the heart breaking reality of how unjust our system is for victims. Very straight forward share of how victim blaming and power dynamics are dealt with. This was hard material to consume, but laid out in a clear way with very relevant and timely references.
challenging
emotional
informative
fast-paced
I'm listing this book as one of the most IMPORTANT reads of today. Please pick this one up and read it, whether you're a victim of sexual assault, or whether you know someone who has been assaulted. Sadly, that pretty much should cover everyone who exists. "Most sexual misconduct goes unaddressed, leaving intact the hierarchies that enable it."
Credible takes a look at sexual assault, in our history and through today, and aims to answer why so many accusers are doubted, and why so many abusers are overlooked or believed without question. Tuerkheimer uses examples from as far back as the 1800s to the current #MeToo movement to show how law has or has not changed, and what women are up against when making claims against strangers, someone they know, even their husbands.
At its core is our culture. "None of us can transcend cultural norms or avoid their imprint on our inner workings." Dismissal is our default. We look for ways to discount someone's credibility at every turn.
When someone comes forward about sexual misconduct, they are telling us 3 things: This happened. It was wrong. It matters. And in order for the claim to be accepted, people must be convinced of all three elements.
Tuerkheimer examines how credibility discounting breaks unevenly against marginalized, subordinated, and vulnerable groups like black women and girls, trans, LGBTQ, class, employment, sexual history. It all matters when it comes to judging credibility. We distrust, blame, or disregard.
Because of our culture and the way we judge credibility, victims of sexual misconduct often feel they are assaulted twice; first by the abuser, and second by the people they believed would help them. When even our closest friends and family don't believe that it mattered, that it happened, or that it was wrong, victims can feel betrayed a second time, and often that betrayal feels more painful than the initial assault.
The care gap: "the suffering of an abuser who could face accountability for his misdeeds matters far more than the suffering of his victim." As long as we believe this, we will continue to reinsure victims and uphold the idea that powerful men are more valuable than anyone else.
If you are the victim of sexual abuse, this book may bring about some explanation, as your credibility relies on an old and outdated system of beliefs that still prevails to this day, deeming your worth as less than. You are not less than.
Please know that what happened to you mattered.
And if you are on the other side, if you have judged someone for their experience of abuse - cultural transformation starts with you. Our culture must evolve.
Credible takes a look at sexual assault, in our history and through today, and aims to answer why so many accusers are doubted, and why so many abusers are overlooked or believed without question. Tuerkheimer uses examples from as far back as the 1800s to the current #MeToo movement to show how law has or has not changed, and what women are up against when making claims against strangers, someone they know, even their husbands.
At its core is our culture. "None of us can transcend cultural norms or avoid their imprint on our inner workings." Dismissal is our default. We look for ways to discount someone's credibility at every turn.
When someone comes forward about sexual misconduct, they are telling us 3 things: This happened. It was wrong. It matters. And in order for the claim to be accepted, people must be convinced of all three elements.
Tuerkheimer examines how credibility discounting breaks unevenly against marginalized, subordinated, and vulnerable groups like black women and girls, trans, LGBTQ, class, employment, sexual history. It all matters when it comes to judging credibility. We distrust, blame, or disregard.
Because of our culture and the way we judge credibility, victims of sexual misconduct often feel they are assaulted twice; first by the abuser, and second by the people they believed would help them. When even our closest friends and family don't believe that it mattered, that it happened, or that it was wrong, victims can feel betrayed a second time, and often that betrayal feels more painful than the initial assault.
The care gap: "the suffering of an abuser who could face accountability for his misdeeds matters far more than the suffering of his victim." As long as we believe this, we will continue to reinsure victims and uphold the idea that powerful men are more valuable than anyone else.
If you are the victim of sexual abuse, this book may bring about some explanation, as your credibility relies on an old and outdated system of beliefs that still prevails to this day, deeming your worth as less than. You are not less than.
Please know that what happened to you mattered.
And if you are on the other side, if you have judged someone for their experience of abuse - cultural transformation starts with you. Our culture must evolve.
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
As someone who has worked for more than a decade in this field, this book is highly problematic. The largest issue being that the premise is very gendered of women as victims, men as abusers. There was some mild mention if trans individuals but completely erased all the men who are victims of sexual abuse who report less and are believed at even lower rates than women. Also several of the racial demographics discussed are factually incorrect. Please use caution when reading this book and do additional research and fact checking.