Ian Chinich is a dangerous serial abuser, predator, and liar

Ian Chinich admits to being a rapist, but only when confronted directly. Ian continues to lie that he has been "held accountable". The "accountability process" he refers to was being told once not to go to an out-of-town event because he had made yet another woman uncomfortable. Ian does not volunteer this information when working in new groups, which we consider a basic requirement of any accountability.

Ian Chinich has been banned from events of Students for Justice in Palestine. Ian Chinich is not welcome at UC Irvine. At UC Irvine, Ian Chinich widely spread untrue rumors about student activists (unrelated to SJP or his sexual assaults) and lied to the activists about doing so, putting the students in unnecessary and serious legal danger. Ian ignored and spoke over women of color, men of color, and others while he was a new guest at several student meetings and gatherings. His use of Irvine activists' legal precarity to build false cred made it clear that he valued his Facebook statuses over community and individual safety.

Ian did not disclose his history of sexual violence to people at UC Irvine, including several women that he was making arrangements to live with. Ian continues to attempt to hide his history, going as far to have an ally of his in Boston ask, "When he's looking for a roommate, does he need to tell normal people [emphasis added] about being a rapist?" Is their presumption that only lefties care about whether their roommate is a rapist? The disgusting logic of this request is self-evident to non-narcissists.

Somehow Ian has managed to maintain a network of supporters despite the facts of his history being made public. We share this information with the hopes that other potential collaborators (or roommates) of this rapist can stay safe and make decisions for themselves about whether they wish to live or work with someone with a long history of sexual violence, lies, and other damaging behavior.

[This post has been modified. 2/27/14 -CS]

[One reason] why cops [and others] don't believe rape victims

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2013/06/why_cops_don_t_believe_rape_victims_and_how_brain_science_can_solve_the.html

This article is a valuable read for anyone involved in supporting any survivor of serious trauma. Essentially, cops (and others) expect the survivor to be crying and freaking out. This article warns us of the danger of using survivors' outward expression to judge whether or not their story is believable.

Fortunately for most of us, we don't often deal with people who've just experienced horrific trauma. Most of us have a poor understanding of survivors' reactions to terrible and rare events. This article explains how survivors commonly have unexpected emotional expression when they tell their stories. They may have a flat affect or crack jokes. They might not seem to be taking themselves seriously.

The important lesson here is about how people supporting survivors can do better. We reject the cop-centric focus of this article. There are many reasons that cops have incentive to disbelieve rape victims: they are more likely to have committed violence against women themselves, they wish to preserve their own power,  or they simply may be avoiding more paperwork, and all the other reasons that anyone else disbelieves rape victims.

Finally, to reject a survivor's story is to assume the survivor is a liar or delusional. Believe survivors.