This story is missing an incredibly important element. The way these men who are so committed to helping women who have been victims of sexual harassment and assault attacked victims on twitter. I know, I was one of them.

When this mess first started, I knew the tweets were directed at my friend and colleague. I guessed (and she later confirmed) that they were meant to be fun and were completely consensual.

I had the audacity to start a thread on twitter where I suggested that perhaps we should ask the women involved if they were being harassed before we leveled accusations at the supposed harasser.

For my trouble, I got called a woman hater, an enabler, and plenty of other terrible things (now conveniently deleted by the people who said those awful things: Cohen, Rayner, a handle by the name of callis1987, and Forden)

You can look up the archive of these if you like – the internet never forgets.

Personally, I’ve been in the industry for 20 years, and I’ve been the victim of sexual harassment in this industry. In my case, it was not by the so-called SEO Elite – it was by attendees at conferences and co-workers. I know it’s a problem in the industry, and I’ve spent years trying to elevate the position of women in this industry.

This ongoing accusation without evidence – without any of the women harassed speaking up publicly – and worse, based on tweets and videos that have been declared consensual by women involved – is going to serve to do only two things:

1. Smear the names and reputations of people who may or may not be guilty.
2. Make it harder for women to come forward if there are credible allegations against those same individuals.

This doesn’t make me a woman-hater or an enabler. It makes me realistic. And the reality is it’s already really hard for women to come forward in these situations. And false accusations make it harder, like the boy who cried wolf.

A personal plea to the women involved. These men say you are out there and that you’ve been victimized. I am truly sorry for that. You should speak out, and people should listen. But as long as you’re mixed up with these people who have lost credibility based on their behavior, you’re not going to be heard as clearly as you should. If I can help in any way, please let me know.

We have issues to solve. I’m not claiming to have all the answers, but people who level false accusations of criminal behavior with the intention of making a point probably aren’t interested in truly solving these issues.

And articles like this that don’t tell the whole story just enable that behavior.