By Erin Rose
At the end of Daniel Sloss‘ 90 minute comedy show Daniel Sloss: X for HBO, he tells a personal story about being friends with a rapist.
It is a cautionary tale that everyone needs to watch and really listen to.
Especially men and boys.
“If every single woman who has experience of sexual assault was to go to the police, there are not enough police officers or courtrooms, in the world to deal with the problem. And that’s not even taking into consideration that the problem goes all the way to the very top and that’s not my way of saying you shouldn’t go to the police, it’s just my way of letting you know how big this fucking problem is.”
“97 percent of rapists will not spend a single day in jail. That is a real statistic. That is fucking abhorrent.”
“The only thing I can think of is that it has to involve us. And by us, I mean men.”
“I knew this man for eight years, and he fucking did it. There are monsters amongst us, and they look like us. If you are sick of the narrative that’s currently going on about men feel free to change it, but you have to get involved.”
“The only thing I can think of is that it has to involve us. And by us, I mean men.
“Don’t make the same mistake I did for years, which was just sitting back and being like: ‘Well I’m not part of the problem, therefore I must be part of the solution.’ Cause that’s just not how fucking shit works.
“I believe and deep down I know that most men are good. Of course we are. But when one in ten men are shit and the other nine do nothing, they might as well not fucking be there.”
“Being good on the inside counts for absolutely fuck all. You have to actively be good and get involved. Instead of having this fucking hero complex and being like ‘I’m going to beat up a rapist.’ Fucking prevent one, stop one, because I know it can be done…because I know how I fucking failed at it.
“Because if I’m being 100% honest with myself, were there signs in my friend’s behaviour over the years toward women that I ignored? The answer is yes. And then he raped my friend and that’s on me until the day I die.
“Talk to your fucking boys, get involved.”
You can watch Daniel’s full stand up special on HBO here. Also, how do we sponsor his U.S. college tour? We would like to get right on that.
