Believe women

Short description: American political slogan

Protestors hold signs in protest against the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination.

"Believe women" is an American political slogan arising out of the #MeToo movement.[1] It refers to accepting women's allegations of sexual harassment or sexual assault at face value. The phrase grew in popularity in response to the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination.

Jude Doyle, writing for Elle, argues that the phrase means "don't assume women as a gender are especially deceptive or vindictive, and recognize that false allegations are less common than real ones."[1]

## Contents

* 1 Criticisms and "Believe all women"
* 1.1 General criticisms
* 1.2 No Place in a Criminal Trial
* 2 Joe Biden sexual assault allegation
* 3 Use in media
* 4 See also
* 5 References

## Criticisms and "Believe all women"

Rebecca Traister, writing for The Cut, calls the phrase "compelling but flawed": it is often recast as "believe all women", and used as a "deeply problematic" and "clumsy imperative" that has "enfeebled the far more important argument that we should encourage them to speak more, and listen to them more seriously when they talk".[2]

"Believe all women" is a controversial alternative phrasing of the expression. Monica Hesse writing for The Washington Post argues that the slogan has always been "believe women", and that the "believe all women" variant is "a bit of grammatical gaslighting", a straw man invented by critics so that it could be attacked, and that this alternative slogan, in contrast with "believe women", "is rigid, sweeping, and leaves little room for nuance".[3] Libertarian journalist Robby Soave writing for Reason disagreed with this interpretation, arguing that "#MeToo advocates demanded a presumption of belief for every individual who claims to be a sexual misconduct victim: i.e., believe all women". He noted that Susan Faludi of The New York Times admitted to having "encountered some feminists who seemed genuinely to subscribe to the more extreme interpretation of the hashtag."[4]

### General criticisms

Using the recast "all women" variant of the slogan, Megan McArdle, a writer self-described as "right-leaning libertarian",[5] suggested in a 2017 Bloomberg opinion column that the trend led to outcomes for those accused of sexual misconduct of the "economic death penalty" – termination of employment and effective blacklisting from their field – in incidents which McArdle viewed as not clearly established, or as involving less serious behaviors.[6]

According to The Atlantic, the adoption of a rule in Britain, according to which police should believe reports of sexual assault and consider complainants to be victims, led to improper police investigation of claims and the overlooking of contradictory evidence, resulting in the collapse of prosecutions.[7][8]

### No Place in a Criminal Trial

In the latest acquittal of 5 Hockey Canada players, justice Maria Carroccia ruled that:

> "Although the slogan “Believe the victim” has become popularized of late, it has no place in a criminal trial. To approach a trial with the assumption that the complainant is telling the truth is the equivalent of imposing a presumption of guilt on the person accused of sexual assault and then placing a burden on him to prove his innocence. That is antithetical to the fundamental principles of justice enshrined in our constitution and the values underlying our free and democratic society."[9][10][11]

## Joe Biden sexual assault allegation

In April 2020, a number of politicians and commentators discussed the Joe Biden sexual assault allegation in relation to the "Believe women" slogan. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized what she regarded as a lack of integrity relating to the issue: "If we again want to have integrity, you can't say, you know — both believe women, support all of this, until it inconveniences you, until it inconveniences us."[12] The National Review criticized what it considered to be Biden's hypocrisy in "his demand that Americans must believe women as a matter of unwavering reflex" during the Kavanaugh nomination. The editors said, "we hope that this incident has taught Biden that his previous approach toward accusations of sexual assault was dangerous, illiberal, and ultimately untenable."[13] On the other hand, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand stood by Biden and remarked, "When we say 'believe women', it's for this explicit intention of making sure there's space for all women to come forward to speak their truth, to be heard. And in this allegation, that is what Tara Reade has done."[14]

## Use in media

On September 28, 2018, the dating app Bumble took out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times saying simply, "Believe women".[15]

## See also

* 2017–18 United States political sexual scandals
* Believe the Children
* False accusation of rape
* HimToo movement
* Potiphar's wife

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Doyle, Jude (30 November 2017). "Despite What You May Have Heard, 'Believe Women' Has Never Meant 'Ignore Facts'". Elle. https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a13977980/me-too-movement-false-accusations-believe-women/. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
2. ↑ Traister, Rebecca (26 February 2020). "'You Believe He's Lying?' The latest debate captured Americans' exhausting tendency to mistrust women.". The Cut. https://www.thecut.com/2020/02/chris-matthews-elizabeth-warren-believe-women.html. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
3. ↑ Hesse, Monica (12 May 2020). "'Believe Women' was a slogan. 'Believe All Women' is a strawman". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/believe-women-was-a-slogan-believe-all-women-is-a-strawman/2020/05/11/6a3ff590-9314-11ea-9f5e-56d8239bf9ad_story.html.
4. ↑ Soave, Robby (19 May 2020). "Feminists Who Now Claim They Never Meant 'Believe All Women' Are Gaslighting Us". https://reason.com/2020/05/19/believe-all-women-me-too-feminists-biden-reade/. For context, the original Faludi quote reads: "In my online searches, I encountered some feminists who seemed genuinely to subscribe to the phrase. But overwhelmingly, the Twitterati deploying the phrase were conservatives, wielding it as a whip."
5. ↑ McArdle, Megan (12 January 2018). "Silicon Valley Will Pay the Price for Its Lefty Leanings" (in en). Bloomberg.com. https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-01-12/silicon-valley-will-pay-the-price-for-its-lefty-leanings.
6. ↑ McArdle, Megan (15 December 2017). "Consider the Consequences of #BelieveAllWomen" (in en). Bloomberg.com. https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-12-15/consider-the-consequences-of-believeallwomen.
7. ↑ Yoffe, Emily (3 October 2018). "The Problem With #BelieveSurvivors". The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/brett-kavanaugh-and-problem-believesurvivors/572083/.
8. ↑ Evans, Martin (20 December 2017). "Police should refer to complainants and not 'victims' when investigating rape cases, senior legal figures suggest". Telegraph Online. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/20/police-should-refer-complainants-not-victims-investigating-rape/. Citing:
* Timothy, Nick (20 December 2017). "The police can't blame budget cuts for innocent men being charged with rape". The Daily Telegraph: p. 12. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/20/police-cant-blame-budget-cuts-innocent-men-charged-rape/. "They are required to 'believe' the account given by an alleged victim at the point at which they record the crime – so that crime is not under-recorded – but they must then undertake 'a thorough investigation of the facts' before a decision is taken to charge and prosecute."
9. ↑ The Globe and Mail "Analyzing Justice Maria Carroccia’s Hockey Canada verdict" July 26, 2025 | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-analyzing-justice-maria-carroccias-hockey-canada-verdict/
10. ↑ R. v. McLeod, et al., 2025 ONSC 4319 COURT FILE NO.: CR-122-24 (London) DATE: 2025/07/24, E. 480 | https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2025/2025onsc4319/2025onsc4319.html
11. ↑ R. v. Nyznik, 2017 ONSC 4392, COURT FILE NO.: CR-16-00000131-00MO, DATE: 20170809, (3) 17 } https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2017/2017onsc4392/2017onsc4392.html
12. ↑ Watson, Eleanor; Erickson, Bo. "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: 'It's legitimate to talk about' allegations against Joe Biden". CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-joe-biden-its-legitimate-to-talk-about-allegations/. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
13. ↑ "The Hypocrisy on Tara Reade Is a National Disgrace". National Review. 27 April 2020. https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/04/the-hypocrisy-on-tara-reade-is-a-national-disgrace/. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
14. ↑ Khalid, Asma (29 April 2020). "New Information Emerges Around Biden Sexual Assault Allegation". NPR. https://www.npr.org/2020/04/29/847840765/new-information-emerges-around-biden-sexual-assault-allegation. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
15. ↑ Gstalter, Morgan (28 September 2018). "Dating app Bumble publishes full-page ad in NY Times: 'Believe Women'". The Hill. https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/408946-female-driven-dating-app-bumble-publishes-full-page-ad-in-the.

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