I'm reading a lot of comments online about how awful Rebekah Vardy is and who can believe her, and people wishing it wasn't her fronting the documentary about the Jehovah's Witnesses covering up child abuse.
Regardless of whether you like Vardy or not, and regardless of whether she should be defined as a good/bad person because of what's she's known for, it shouldn't impact the sympathy we feel for any victim of abuse.
Vardy did experience sexual abuse as a child, and was shamed for it, and was stopped from getting support and stopped from talking to the police. This is horrendous and has been deeply traumatic for her.
She is deserving of our sympathy and of our support.
We don't get to choose victims we like, victims who are nice, and victims who fit the perfect picture we think of when we think of a victim. Sometimes victims of abuse are unkind, unlikeable, and are everything else any human can be. Because abuse can happen to anyone. And abuse can deeply impact how you interact with others for the rest of your life.
As human beings, everyone who has been abused should have the right to not be abused, to be believed when they ask for support, and to be supported. We should never supplement that with 'but only if you're nice and I like you'.
how embarrassing
