Anyone with access to the Internet knows what a big day Feb. 19 was for the music industry, and for one artist specifically. On that Friday, a judge denied Kesha's plea to annul her contract with Sony and her producer Dr. Luke, who she said raped and abused her. Because of this denial, she is being forced to continue to work with her rapist for six more albums—and the world is furious. The hashtag #FreeKesha is trending on Twitter with 2.22 million tweets at the time of writing this article, and a petition has already begun circulating calling on Sony to to free Kesha from her contract. Kesha's fans and allies of survivors like her are calling on the music industry to support her instead of silencing her, preferably by refusing to work with Dr. Luke or anyone who works with him. One Twitter user said it perfectly: "When the justice system turns its back, the rest of the country rises up."

To catch everyone up, Kesha has been locked in a stalemate with Sony and Dr. Luke because of her contract, which says she cannot do any promotional appearances or record new music with anyone else. In 2014, she filed a lawsuit against him, alleging sexual assault, gender violence, harassment, unfair business practices and intentional infliction of emotional distress. For the past two years she has been fighting this battle publicly; privately, it's suspected to have been going on longer. All of this seems to be linked to the bulimia nervosa she struggled with, which she checked herself into rehab for in January of that year. In the various articles that I've combed as research for this piece, the harassment that she is suing Dr. Luke seems to have begun with a date-rape type incident in 2006, when she was only 18-years-old.

This hit a very personal, emotional chord with me. Make no mistake, this is a terrible day for women's rights and for the rights of sexual violence survivors. As a feminist, ally and close friend of a number of survivors, I am livid. I am so deeply disappointed in the justice system that decided this, that decided economics and protecting Sony from "irreparable harm" is more important than the spiritual and psychological well-being of a survivor. Not only have the past 10 years been incredibly traumatic and confusing for Kesha, this public fight against Dr. Luke and Sony has likely only added to that. Suing her rapist in a world that questions the victim and protects the perpetrator is brave, and she has endured harassment and various threats throughout this ordeal. She has been forced to relive psychological and sexual trauma. She has not been given a chance to heal, and now she has been denied a chance to continue with her passion, with what is likely the only thing that could get her through what happened to her.

To everyone reading this, I want you to think long and hard about what this teaches women and survivors of violence everywhere. Think about what this says about the music industry in general. Rape, and similar types of trauma, is not something to be condoned. That fact that women need to think about putting anti-rape clauses in contracts is ridiculous on multiple levels. Here we have the perfect example of the oxymoron that is this society: we urge survivors of rape to come forward, to seek justice, to tell their stories; when they do, we accuse them of lying, tell them there isn't enough evidence, shut down their voices and refuse to protect them. The fact that she must make six more albums with Dr. Luke is no joking matter. Many artists' careers end before six albums. So many artists pour their creative heart and souls into their music, and being forced to work with her rapist and to profit him is going to make that process torture for Kesha.

Luckily, the Internet has banded together to let Kesha know how many support her and are rallying for her in the wake of the judge's decision. Artists like Lorde, Alessia Cara, Lady Gaga, Kelly Clarkson, Lily Allen and more have tweeted their support in solidarity with Kesha. Multiple petitions are circulating, imploring people to band together in support of the artist and against Dr. Luke and those who would condone his actions. The hashtag #SonySupportsRape is also trending, which continues to echo with solidarity every second. The public is calling on Sony to release Kesha from her contracts; hopefully, the public pressure will force them to cave.

I will leave you with this thought: it does not matter what you think of her music. It does not matter what you think of her image. So many of those decisions are made for the artist; how much voice could an 18-year-old newcomer have in these decisions against a mega-producer like Dr. Luke? Regardless, her "party girl image" does not condone what was done to her. The judge essentially decided Kesha was an object for money, that Sony's economic state was more important than the irreparable damage done to her psychologically and sexually. Please, think critically about the world and culture surrounding us.