Last month, when Dylan Farrow accused Woody Allen, her adoptive father, of sexually assaulting her as a child, she ignited an international firestorm. Though there has been plenty of commentary on the controversy, less has been said about the deliberately public nature of her choice to come forward: She made her allegations in a letter published online at The New York Times, and so the responses to it have occurred in the national media.
Dylan Farrow wrote her letter, she explains, so that “the survivors of sexual abuse who have reached out to me—to support me and to share their fears of coming forward, of being called a liar, of being told their memories aren’t their memories—have given me a reason to not be silent, if only so others know that they don’t have to be silent either.” In an interview, Dylan told the Times, “I was thinking if I don’t speak out, I’ll regret it on my death bed.”
Dylan Farrow’s letter is part of a wider culture of “speaking out” and sexual-abuse activism that many people believe is good for women. Kathleen Geier, over at Washington Monthly, wrote: “Dylan Farrow’s bravery is to be commended. I hope that by going public, she finds renewed serenity and strength, and that her example gives hope to other survivors.” Katie McDonough at Salonremarked, “In her open letter, Farrow asked only to be heard, for a reprieve from a culture that she
