Why Don’t Survivors Report? Because the System Wasn’t Built for Us.
By Trinity Barnette
“Why didn’t she go to the police?”
“Why wait until now to say something?”
“Why didn’t he fight back?”
Let me flip the question for you:
Why would they?
Survivors don’t report because they know the truth—justice isn’t guaranteed, but retraumatization is.
They’ll be questioned, doubted, dissected.
Their clothes.
Their past.
Their sobriety.
Their relationships.
Their texts.
Their trauma responses.
Their entire life becomes a courtroom weapon.
And even if they do everything “right,” the system still fails them.
Police ask invasive questions and treat them like suspects.
Prosecutors drop cases because “there’s not enough evidence.”
Rapists get plea deals or 3 months in jail for “a mistake.”
Social media calls them liars.
Family says, “don’t ruin his life.”
We live in a world where survivors have to fight for the right to be believed.
Where speaking out means risking your job, your safety, your peace.
Where silence isn’t weakness—it’s self-protection.
So the next time you wonder why someone didn’t report,
Remember this: the system wasn’t designed to protect them.
It was designed to protect power.
