Harvey Weinstein Found Guilty, SNAP Responds

The guilty verdict delivered against Harvey Weinstein is a win for survivors everywhere. This case and its example has been critical to the recent, years-long awakening of the world to the realities of sexual violence and how this crime is commonly committed by people in positions of power. We hope that this conviction will bring not only healing to Weinstein's survivors, but also hope to all survivors of sexual violence.

We hope that others who are still silent and afraid to come forward will see this case as the dawning of a new day, one in which the world is more aware of how common cases of sexual violence are, and the myriad reasons that survivors have for staying silent after they have been victimized. Even more critically, we hope that those who have not been victims themselves will understand as a result of this conviction that they should believe survivors when they come forward and show them support instead of disbelief. But most importantly we hope that this verdict will remind victims everywhere that it is better to come forward and make a report to police than it is to stay silent.

CONTACT: Zach Hiner, Executive Director ([email protected], 517-974-9009)

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

SNAP Network is a GuideStar Gold Participant