For decades the many abuses of Keith Raniere had existed in plain sight—somehow too absurd and sensational to ever be taken seriously. Part of the reason those abuses went unchallenged for so long had to do with our cultural understanding of his victims, the majority of whom were young women. It’s true that young, beautiful women are often perceived as sympathetic victims—though this applies only to unambiguous crimes. Their abusers must jump out of bushes, or at the very least the abused must rush straight to the authorities—no negotiation or continued contact with abusers permitted—to secure
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