Men Must Speak Up or Stay Complicit

 🛑 CONTENT WARNING:

This post discusses sexual violence, accountability, and the role of men in challenging rape culture. It contains strong language about complicity and societal responsibility. Please proceed with care.

Post 4: Men Must Speak Up or Stay Complicit

By Tina Winterlik // Zipolita

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If you’re a man and you’re not speaking up about this —
You are part of the problem.

Silence is not neutral.
Silence is protection — for abusers.
And if you think this case doesn’t affect you because you weren’t there, think again.

Because next time?
It could be your daughter.
Your niece.
Your sister.
Your partner.
Your friend’s child.
And if you stayed silent now, what will you say then?

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👥 This Isn’t “Just a Women’s Issue”

You play hockey with these men.
You party with them.
You follow them on Instagram.
You sit beside them in boardrooms, gyms, dressing rooms, bars, arenas.

You hear the way they talk.
You’ve seen them cross lines.
You’ve laughed it off.
You’ve let it go.
You’ve said, “That’s just the way guys are.”

No more.

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🧨 The Culture Is Sick — And You’re the Ones Who Can Change It

If you're a man, and you don’t:

• Call out your friends when they talk like predators
• Check in when you see a woman looking uncomfortable
• Shut it down when someone jokes about “getting her drunk”
• Make it clear that abuse = exile from your circle

Then you’re not an ally — you’re a coward.
And you're complicit.

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🧱 What Real Masculinity Looks Like Now

• It’s accountability. Owning your mistakes and unlearning harmful behaviours.
• It’s calling out your boys. Even when it's awkward. Even when it risks your comfort.
• It’s standing with survivors. Not just in hashtags — in action.
• It’s teaching other men. Especially the younger ones, who are watching everything.

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👊 What You Can Do Right Now:

• Have the uncomfortable conversation — at practice, at the bar, at work.
• Post publicly that you believe E.M.
• Donate to or volunteer with orgs that support survivors.
• Talk to your sons, brothers, friends. Often. Repeatedly.
• Never let a man who’s hurt someone feel protected around you.

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🚫 We Don’t Want Your Silence. We Want Your Voice.

Don’t tell us you’re “not like those guys.”
Prove it.

Because saying nothing while women suffer isn’t neutrality —
it’s betrayal.

And every time you stay quiet, the rapists sleep better.