Jennifer Kady Stanton

What Happens to Society When Women Conclude that Speaking Out Against Powerful Men is Too Dangerous?  

-by Jennifer Kady Stanton and Karen Benedict

Last week, the Department of Justice initiated an investigation against E. Jean Carroll to determine if she committed perjury during a 2022 deposition in her civil lawsuits against Donald J. Trump. 

In November 2019, E. Jean Carroll filed her first defamation lawsuit after Trump denied her claims of sexual assault, claiming that she was “not his type”. A jury later awarded her $ 88.3 million. In a second civil suit for sexual abuse and battery, the jury found Trump liable, and Carroll was awarded an additional five million. The diverse jury came to a unanimous verdict, despite one juror acknowledging that he regularly listened to right-leaning, pro-Trump media. (Haroun, 2023) Despite the alleged harassment and intimidation that Carroll experienced, she persevered despite the alleged harassment over the case, winning in two separate civil trials.  

We, the relatives of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, question what happens if women conclude that speaking out against powerful men is simply too risky and could expose them to retaliation?

Women have long been exposed to harassment, abuse, and retaliation when they have spoken out against their oppressors. On January 29 1861, mob rioters who stood in opposition to the anti-slavery movement dragged an effigy of Susan B. Anthony through the streets in an attempt to silence her growing anti-slavery movement. In chilling opposition, the mob dragged the effigy through the mud in an attempt to not only humiliate but to scare Anthony into silence. (About This Collection | Susan B. Anthony Papers | Digital Collections, n.d.) Fortunately, the rioters only emboldened Anthony. Together with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, they continued their fight to secure a variety of rights for women, eventually including the right to vote. Violence and humiliation only emboldened Anthony and Stanton to the cause, and for the greater good of our society today; they did not allow terror and intimidation to end their crusade for equality.

However, not all women will conclude that speaking out is worth the potential consequences. Currently, approximately 80% of all sexual assaults go unreported. (Kimble & Chettiar, 2018) Women have long experienced violence and intimidation. Today, violence is the leading cause of death among women ages 18-44. Even more shocking, homicide and suicide are the number one cause of maternal death. (New National Study Finds Homicide and Suicide Is the #1 Cause of Maternal Death in the U.S. – Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, 2025) This number does not include assault, attempted murder, and rape. According to the CDC, 45.1% of women will experience some form of sexual assault in their lifetimes. (The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2016/2017 Report on Stalking–Updated Release, n.d.) The strategy has long been to silence women through legal attacks, intimidation, or violence. Tragically, this is nothing new. 

Women’s accusations should not always be taken as fact, and due process must be allowed to take its course. However, allegations of retaliation from accusers should always be taken extremely seriously. If women begin to conclude that speaking out against their abusers will only create more pain, scrutiny, and abuse, they may conclude that it’s best to remain silent. 

If retaliation claims are dismissed, a system is created where perpetrators feel emboldened to abuse more deeply and frequently, freed from potential consequences. Women must feel supported enough to make accusations and to file charges; otherwise, fewer victims will be likely to speak out for fear of potential retaliation or consequences. 

Women are watching. 

They are watching the investigation against Carroll and other prominent cases. Your wives, daughters, sisters, nieces, and mothers are observing what can happen when women do not silently tolerate violence and abuse against them. While the outcomes from scores of cases have been varied, one common thread is that the use of retaliation can cause women to deeply question whether they should speak out, especially when the abusers are men of power. 

As relatives of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, we are watching history repeat itself. We, as a society, need to ask ourselves what will happen when the next victim of sexual assault concludes that speaking out will be too high of a price to pay. 

References

About this Collection | Susan B. Anthony Papers | Digital Collections. (n.d.). Library of Congress. Retrieved May 28, 2026, from https://www.loc.gov/collections/susan-b-anthony-papers/about-this-collection/

Haroun, A. (2023, 05 10). E. Jean Carroll’s Team Wanted to Dismiss a Juror During the Trump Sexual Abuse and Defamation Trial Who Described Tim Pool’s Podcast as “Balanced”. Business Insider. Retrieved 05 28, 2026, from http://www.businessinsider.com

Kimble, C., & Chettiar, M. (2018, October 4). Sexual Assault Remains Dramatically Underreported. Brennan Center for Justice. Retrieved June 1, 2026, from https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/sexual-assault-remains-dramatically-underreported

The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2016/2017 Report on Stalking–Updated Release. (n.d.). CDC. Retrieved May 28, 2026, from https://www.cdc.gov/nisvs/media/pdfs/sexualviolence-brief.pdf

New National Study Finds Homicide and Suicide is the #1 Cause of Maternal Death in the U.S. – Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. (2025, January 30). SMFM. Retrieved May 28, 2026, from https://www.smfm.org/news/new-national-study-finds-homicide-and-suicide-is-the-1-cause-of-maternal-death-in-the-us