Originally Posted by kane

The reason so many are coming forward now is that there are safety in numbers. I used to date a woman that worked for a group that ran battered women's shelters. She explained to me that many women who are raped feel alone and assume they are the only ones that this has happened to. In this case not only do they feel along and like a victim, but the guy that did it is very famous, rich and powerful so they are afraid of coming forward for fear that he will destroy their lives. When others start to come forward they gain some confidence and see that they are not alone.

This is why we often see the same thing with pedophiles. When a few victims come forward then often many more come out of the woodwork because up until then they were either afraid or embarrassed to come forward alone.