This week the hashtag #WhyIDidntReport went viral on Twitter after Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was accused of attempted rape.
President Donald Trump tweeted his two cents on the topic, arguing that if Professor Christine Blasey Ford, Kavanaugh’s accuser, was really abused, she would have reported it.
Thus the tweet storm of #WhyIDidntReport hashtags began. Beth Moore, author, and evangelist, never being one to hold back, joined the masses in tweeting her #WhyIDidntReport moment.
“He lived in my house. #whyididntreport,” Beth Moore tweeted.
He lived in my house.#whyididntreport
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) September 22, 2018
The following day, she tweeted again this time saying, “Make it a safer world to report it and you’ll make it a safer world.”
Make it a safer world to report it and you’ll make it a safer world.
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) September 22, 2018
Many evangelical leaders came to her side thanking her for standing up for what is right, and making other females believe that they could too, speak up.
Russel Moore tweeted his reaction to Moore’s tweet saying “Sobering. Grateful to God for you Beth.”
Sobering. Grateful to God for you Beth. https://t.co/XoJvkWTcHe
— Russell Moore (@drmoore) September 22, 2018
Many Twitter users were not as thankful as Russell Moore. One user going by the name Mike Jones, tweeted back at Beth, saying he thought she had a “better sense of justice and honesty” than to join a movement that was trying to “destroy a man.”
Given the most preeminent happening in our country right now I'm assuming ur comments are addressing this. U seem to be justifying destroying a man based on unsubstantiated accusations from 36 yrs ago. I'm disappointed in u. Thought u had a better sense of justice and honesty
— Mike Jones (@BMJdaddy) September 22, 2018
Moore replied that she had no desire to do so and that she was “advocating for women to be heard, taken seriously and not placed in harm’s way for coming forward.”
Let me assure you, sir, I have not one whit of desire for anyone to be falsely accused. That is highly counterproductive and would only end up making it harder for victims. I’m advocating for women to be heard, taken seriously and not placed in harm’s way for coming forward.
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) September 22, 2018
Moores tweet came after President Donald Trump had taken to Twitter to defend his Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, in regards to the abuse accusations reported by Professor Christine Blasey Ford.
President Trump tweeted, “I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents.”
I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents. I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 21, 2018
But sexual abuse survivors would argue that it’s not that simple.
“It never occurred to me really until many years later that it was rape,” said Diane Chamberlain, an author and sexual assault survivor. “I thought this was something that was entirely my fault.”
Chamberlin told “CBS This Morning” that it took nearly five decades for her to come to terms with her assault, and talk about it out loud.
“I would have told her everything, so that’s sort of a sign of just how ashamed I was of putting myself in that position,” she said about not even telling her best friend.
Psychologist Dawn Hughes told NBC that “Rape and sexual assault and victimization, in general, is vastly under-reported to authorities.”
Hughes added that seven out of every ten victims do not report their assaults, and the same amount knows their attacker personally, which makes it more difficult for them to speak up, according to Hughes.
“Fear that you are not going to be taken seriously, and then you are going to be the target, you are going to be shamed and humiliated, and sometimes that cost-benefit analysis is just too much to bear for a victim,” Hughes added.
This was not the first time Moore spoke up about an issue like this.
“A well meaning mentor told me at 25 that people couldn’t handle hearing about sexual abuse and it would sink my ministry. It didn’t. #MeToo” Moore tweeted last year.
A well meaning mentor told me at 25 that people couldn't handle hearing about sexual abuse and it would sink my ministry. It didn't. #MeToo
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) October 16, 2017
Moore detailed this experience further in a blog post, where she wrote:
“I well remember feeling something akin to paralysis. The word ‘no’ was not even in my vocabulary. The boundaries around my life were bulldozed early and by a bully, I might add, because, while not all bullies are sexual predators, all sexual predators are, in one way or another, bullies.”
“There was no manual within my reach about how to rebuild those crumbled boundaries.”