Trigger warning: rape and sexual assault
It’s been a difficult weekend for survivors of sexual violence ever since the documentary Russell Brand: In Plain Sight: Dispatches aired.
I’ve spoken to several survivors who are finding the influx of support towards Brand (and the scepticism towards his accusers) incredibly painful. From seeing comments on social asking why the women didn’t go to the police, to seeing friends and acquaintances come out in support of him, this response has made his accusers feel insulted having had the courage to come forward.
Multiple reports from different women said not to have known one another, evidence of an assault reported to medics at a Rape Crisis centre, a text message apparently from Brand apologising to one alleged victim for not understanding that ‘no means no’ and accounts from people he worked with were among just some of the evidence supplied as part of an in-depth investigation into an alleged pattern of sexual harassment and abuse by the comedian-turned-wellness-influencer.
Brand strenuously denies all the allegations and says that all his relationships have been consensual. On the other hand, you only need to look to Hollywood #MeToo movie She Said for a sense of how difficult and time-consuming such an investigation into wealthy and powerful people accused of wrongdoing can be. And UK defamation laws are notoriously strict. The story will have needed to be meticulously researched, vetted and fact checked by lawyers and editors to even make it into print. Brand is a wealthy man with deep pockets. If he wanted to sue, he could.
The allegations span a seven-year period at the height of his fame.
Yet despite the evidence gathered by journalists over years, Brand has been met by overwhelming support by many of his fans. He was greeted with cheers at his sold-out Wembley gig after the accusations came out, and there are multiple comments in support of him on his Instagram and across social media, following a post in which he claims the accusations are part of a ‘coordinated media attack’.
“Strange how none of these women spoke up after the events and only when you started exposing the corruption”, comments one Instagram user underneath his post. But is it any wonder if women don’t share experiences like this straight off the bat, when this is the response that they can expect when they do? After they gather the courage to talk about what would have been likely the most frightening, degrading and traumatic moment of their lives, they’re accused of lying for personal or political gain, even though false allegations of rape are estimated at 0.5%, making men much more likely to be raped than to be falsely accused of rape.
‘Why [do] these ppl who make these allegations not do it privately to the police but thru all this media circus,’ writes another, as though it is a mystery why women aren’t chomping at the bit to report to the police, when one officer is accused of rape every week and it was only this year ex-officer Wayne Couzens was convicted of the murder and rape of Sarah Everard. Not to mention that the investigation revealed WhatsApp message conversations between Couzens and six other officers joking about rape and domestic violence and making racist, homophobic and ableist remarks.
That’s without even considering the re-traumatisation inherent in the process of going through the legal system itself – strangers reading your private text messages and accessing your therapy notes, as well as constantly having to repeat and relive the most intimate details again and again. And for what outcome? Conviction rates in the UK are dismal. Less than 2 in 100 rapes recorded by police in 2022 resulted in a charge that same year, according to Rape Crisis. As @SpeakOutSister, a women’s advocate group, posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) earlier today: “No rape survivor should be pressured into making a police report in a system that retraumatises those who do.”
For survivors, the influx of support for Brand has been particularly painful. “Reading through comments from friends and acquaintances on social media calling the women who accused him liars made me feel ill,” one woman who did not want to be named told Glamour. “After reading the Times piece, I spent the weekend scrolling through them thinking about my rape and how I was too scared to tell anyone for years in case they thought I was making it up. Seeing how many people I actually know think like that just brought that all back again.”
Rape allegations are rare. You know what isn’t rare? Rape. Especially women being raped by men.
According to trauma informed sex and relationship therapist Jodie Slee, research shows negative reactions to a survivor’s story may serve a silencing function, leading some to stop talking about their experiences to anyone at all, even a therapist. “Shame breeds in silence and mis-placed shame reinforces feelings of self-blame, which can be catastrophic for the healing process. Not being believed also increase survivors’ chances of low self-esteem, loss of self-worth and secondary victimization,” she tells Glamour.
This can be as, if not more, traumatising than the abuse itself, effectively preventing recovery from trauma, says psychotherapist and spokesperson for the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) Erene Hadjiioannou. “All survivors deserve respect, empathy, and unequivocal support when they speak out. This is the baseline for improving mental health after trauma.”
Survivors will not have felt much respect or support reading social users rallying to Brand today. One user on X called Brand’s accusers a ‘troop of groupies’ who are ‘trying to cash in on his changed notoriety’. Another suggested suing “and exposing” the accusers, “so we can get rid of the bullshit they spew.” And before the allegations were published by the Sunday Times and Dispatches, Brand received messages of support from Elon Musk, while Alex Jones and Andrew Tate shared theirs after Brand’s video denial (nobody I’d be thrilled to have in my corner but there you go)
So to those rushing to pledge their support to this man, who is accused of multiple instances of sexual assault, including allegedly forcing his penis down a 16-year-old girl’s throat (all of which he denies), please remember that 1 in 4 of your female friends and 1 in 18 of your male friends will be survivors of rape or sexual assault. And as numerous recent posts have reminded us on social: Russell Brand won’t see your tweets of you supporting him, but they will.
GLAMOUR has contacted a rep for Russell Brand and is awaiting comment
For information or support regarding rape and sexual abuse, contact Rape Crisis
