Aly Raisman, an Olympic gold medalist, recently came forward and accused her former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar of sexually abusing her. The public immediately showed their support, so it came as a huge shock when Gabby Douglas, Olympic gold medalist and Raisman’s teammate, posted a victim-blaming tweet in response to Raisman explaining how a revealing outfit does not equal consent.

She tweeted:

“It is our responsibility as women to dress modestly and be classy. Dressing in a provocative/sexual way entices the wrong crowd.”

Her tweet spread across the entire internet and her replies were flooded with people saying how disappointed they were in her and that they would no longer be a fan of hers. When I saw her tweet, that was my initial reaction as well. I think it is unacceptable for anyone to victim blame, so I did not feel sorry for Douglas when I saw thousands of people say that her tweet changed their opinion of her.

A few days later, I saw a news article where Douglas stated that she had been sexually abused by Nassar as well. This came as a surprise to myself and many other people because of the comments she had made when Raisman opened up about her experience. Douglas apologized for her comments and said that she did not realize she had been victim-blaming. She went on to say:

“I didn't publicly share my experiences as well as many other things because for years we were conditioned to stay silent and honestly some things were extremely painful. I wholeheartedly support my teammates for coming forward with what happened to them."

After Douglas shared what happened to her, there were still many people that refused to forgive her for what she said to Raisman. I believe that this is one of the fatal flaws of social justice. When people say or do something offensive that was unintentional and then apologize and try to better themselves afterward, the public still villainizes them. The only way that our society can improve is if people make mistakes, recognize them, and then change their behavior.

Douglas should be given a chance to grow not only because she was unaware of how her comments were harmful, but because she had been a victim of sexual abuse as well. It is possible that Douglas had internalized her abuse and that her comments towards Raisman may have been thoughts she had been having about her own experience. I am only speculating since Douglas herself has not made these claims, but victims of sexual abuse are known to blame themselves. This may have led to her inadvertently taking out her shame on Raisman.

I have seen other people saying that Douglas still should have known better since she is a grown woman. Her age is irrelevant because people learn and change endlessly, and what some of you already knew about victim-blaming was completely new information for Douglas. At some point in your lives, you did not know what victim-blaming was either. We all made the same insensitive remarks because it is what society taught us that was acceptable. We then started reading up on feminism and realized that what we were taught was wrong. Douglas is at that stage right now. The difference is that she had to grow as a person while being in the public eye. If she continues to victim-blame even after this experience, then it is clear that her intention is to harm and I will be the first to condemn her for it. Until then, Raisman and Douglas have my support.