[Warning] This article contains allegation of serious and disturbing sexual assault.
Rob Forbes is a 5FM radio DJ and is well known in the local South African gaming community as an active member. A few days back, he tweeted out a video which contains some extremely serious and disturbing allegations against an anonymous, but apparently well-known, individual in the South African Twitch community.
This means he could be a streamer, PR rep, team boss, esports competitor etc.
My instant reaction was one of revulsion, and then immediately I wanted the young lady to come out and name and shame the individual. Unfortunately, I also understand her being hesitant as she would then almost certainly be subjected to abuse from the anonymous keyboard warriors on the Internet.
It is such an incredibly difficult position to be stuck in and I can’t imagine the emotional trauma she is going through.
A big credit to Rob for putting himself out there and showing this isn’t acceptable in any way or form. If you know who the criminal is, please don’t keep quiet about this. We cannot allow rapists to continue to get away with this. This scumbag needs to be de-platformed and jailed before he does this to even more people.
At the same time, it is important to not start a witch hunt, but there is a difference between spreading rumours about someone you think could be problematic and keeping secret about a known rapist. If you do truly know who this person is, then the authorities need to know.
I think what disappoints me just as much about the entire story is that 5FM, a radio station account with over 1 million Twitter followers, posted this video a few days ago and it has barely had any reaction. It’s as if the world just accepted it and that’s depressing
We believe victims and we believe their stories. We stand against this sort of abuse in our community.
If anyone reading this has gone through something similar, please contact a support group like POWA. They can counsel you through this and support you with laying charges to get awful human beings locked up.
Last Updated: August 18, 2020
konfab
August 18, 2020 at 12:33
Did they lay a charge of sexual assault with the police before making this public?
I bloody well hope so, as the last thing a case like this needs is to be dismissed on some technical grounds because of it.
Gavin Mannion
August 18, 2020 at 10:40
As a warning, any “jokes” about sexual assault will result in the user being banned instantly and permanently. This is your one and only warning.
Chris Summers
August 18, 2020 at 12:18
Good on Rob Forbes getting involved with this, more people with high visibility on various media formats or platforms should follow suit. And it’s indeed shameful that this effort has gotten so little attention, especially in light of the rubbish that DOES get massive attention these days
konfab
August 18, 2020 at 12:33
Did they lay a charge of sexual assault with the police before making this public?
I bloody well hope so, as the last thing a case like this needs is to be dismissed on some technical grounds because of it.
Gavin Mannion
August 18, 2020 at 12:34
he wasn’t the victim, he is speaking from the anonymous victims perspective
konfab
August 18, 2020 at 13:27
That is why I did a ninja edit.
Nevertheless, my point still stands.
Allykhat
August 19, 2020 at 12:23
Yeah thats the thing, It’s one thing to bring up allegations like this, it’s another to actually follow through and lay criminal charges. While I agree that it needs to be brought out into the public domain, it is equally important that it gets reported to the authorities.
After the recent Streamer uproar in numerous communities, there have been hundreds of reports (there is literally a spreadsheet documenting them) against people, both confirmed and proven otherwise. The reason I say this, for example, is because of the fiasco with Angry Joe’s accuser. I’m not saying that everyone is guilty or innocent, but we have a legal system for a reason, let the legal system and courts do their thing, not the court of public opinion.