I was accused of sexual assault and it ruined my life to the point of needing to move halfway across the country. But my pain is nothing compared to actual victims of sexual assault. I support them.

With all the sexual assault allegations going around, few things sicken me as much as those who try to silence the women speaking out.

Right now, there are powerful people who have the capacity to do great harm to many if given more power than they deserve. Those people are also silencing victims right now.

With all that in mind, the most nerve-wracking thing being thrown around right now is that all these women are falsely accusing to benefit themselves. As someone who has been falsely accused of sexual assault, I want to set the record straight. I am, quite frankly, furious that people like me are being used as a scapegoat to silence other victims.

My story is one that involves cyberbullying. I was accused of raping unknown women (this is important, I'll show why in a moment). I never found out who these women I had allegedly sexually assaulted were. Instead, I was met with physical violence from the men around me who assumed those things posted about me.

Now, let's look at what is going on in the political world.

Multiple women have come out against the same people. Here is some crazy logic: A rapist is likely to commit more than one offense. It should be no surprise that multiple allegations are appearing. In fact, that lends more credibility to the women being victims.

OK, now that we have that established, let's talk about the biggest counterpoint to these women being victims. Many on the right are claiming that these women are trying to enrich themselves and gain fame. Let's look at Bill Cosby and his accusers. How many do you know the names of? Any? There must be at least one? Nope? There lies the truth. Accusing a person of rape does not benefit the accuser at all, and it does not make you famous.

Now let's look at what happens to those who speak out.

Ford has had to flee her house. She is getting death threats from random people. Her life is in danger. She did not need fame. She is an established doctor who has a lot going for her. But now her life has become a living hell because she dared to point out that an allegedly good person was lying about who he is.

I should also point out that I know others who have been falsely accused of rape. Many of them have taken the opposite viewpoint as me.

But here is something to point out: at least one of the others that have confided in me about what happened has admitted that the woman falsely accusing him had the traits common to Antisocial Personality Disorder. My hypothesis is that many of the people who are targeted in such a way are dealing with an individual with this condition.

In this increasingly more hostile political climate, I have chosen to support the other victims. I know what it is like to be wrongly accused, and it destroyed my life. I can only imagine the even worse hell for those who have actually be raped. Especially when one considers that the very act is a display of dominance.

Is it any wonder why so many powerful people are being outed as abusers? Maybe, just maybe, this correlation should be looked at instead of all the false equivalences and fears of the very rare false allegation.

Cover Photo: Nessie Spencer on Flickr