New York interviewed all 35 of Bill Cosby’s accusers in a story that aims to paint a comprehensive picture of the scope of just have damning the last months have been for the comedian and how damaging the years of silence have been for the women.
The cover image of New York shows all 35 women sitting in chairs, with a 36th empty chair at the end, presumably left open for women who cannot or have not come forward to tell their story.
The interviews are supplemented by six video interviews as well, but the most powerful stories are the short lines next to the images showing just how damaging this experience has been for these women and how widespread the issue of sexual assault is for women everywhere.
35 women speak about being assaulted by Bill Cosby, and the culture that wouldn't listen: http://t.co/H5dss5F2F4 pic.twitter.com/RCF0BWBrxA
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) July 27, 2015
“The group of women Cosby allegedly assaulted functions almost as a longitudinal study — both for how an individual woman, on her own, deals with such trauma over the decades and for how the culture at large has grappled with rape over the same time period,” the magazine wrote. “In the ’60s, when the first alleged assault by Cosby occurred, rape was considered to be something violent committed by a stranger … But among younger women, and particularly online, there is a strong sense now that speaking up is the only thing to do, that a woman claiming her own victimhood is more powerful than any other weapon in the fight against rape.”
New York Magazine‘s website crashed Monday morning after they published the interviews. The site has re-printed its article on Tumblr while they work out the glitches.