Free Kesha!

An Ode To Kesha

‘Why won’t you believe me? Because I am a woman? Because my words count for nothing when a mans word is law? Can’t you see my tears, dripping salt upon my coarse weathered cheeks? What do you want from me? Are you intent on making my life a living hell, watching me suffer because it pleases you to do so? Your fucked up, you know that don’t you? I am not your first and I wont be your last but I will use every waking moment to make sure you pay for what you did to me. And pay you will, as long as I live and have an ounce of breath in my body I will fight to get the justice that I and millions of other women deserve’. And there is nothing you can do about it’

As Kesha openly weeped in court after the supreme court overturned her case to be freed from a six album contract with Sony’s hitmaker Luke Gottwald, fans queued outside proclaiming against ‘rape culture’ and Sony’s blatant perpetuation of self-entitled misogyny. I felt sick to my stomach, reading comment after comment that stated Kesha was using rape as a ‘publicity stunt’ to promote her music because there was a ‘lack of circumstantial evidence. And this is the huge issue with our society, there is a pre-conceived notion that if there is no evidence than it never happened. What is more horrific is how Kesha’s case which began a year ago was carried out; delayed due to ‘weather’ and forced to endure public humilation because she was ‘raped’ critics were skeptical of her allegations and claimed that it was to ‘gain power’ and use it to take over the music charts. After all, they determined, why is ‘Kesha only putting the claims forward now’? I will tell you why, it is because women like Kesha are afraid to speak up in fear that their allegations will never be taken seriously, that they will be forced to walk at the side of their abusers and tormentors and pretend that everything is ok. Which is exactly what Sony has done, in a series of statements they not only claimed that it was in their best interests to protect Luke over Kesha because ‘he made them more money’ but that Kesha can’t ‘decimate a contract that was heavily negotiated’. This is bullshit, we must take a stand against rape culture and show that we will not be cowed. Man or woman, boy or girl let us hold our heads high and fight for the liberation of rape survivors.

Protesters outside the hearing rallying against Sony and Doctor Luke 

 Kesha’s fans put up a united front to support Kesha after her trial was overturned 

What is even more harrowing is the details of the rape;Kesha was raped over a 10 year period and emotionally, physically and verbally controlled by influential music producer DR Luke who abused his position in power to sexually assault Kesha. When Kesha came forward in 2014 stating that Luke had abused her since she was 18 DR Luke’s lawyers were quick to blame Kesha claiming that ‘Kesha’s lawsuit is nothing more than a continuation of her bad and offensive acts. We are confident that Dr. Luke will prevail in all matters, and that our client will be awarded substantial damages for this malicious conduct.” Let me ask these men one question ‘ if Kesha is lying about her rape then why would she put her career on the line? Why would she risk public questioning and be brave enough to share her story? I will tell you why. Kesha wants to highlight that rape culture is not a ‘myth’ but a real and prevelant issue that affects men and women in their millions worldwide. Kesha wants to highlight that her oppression and entrapment only serves to identify that men take women at face value- the word of a man it seems is worth more than the voices of a thousand women- and not as free thinking equal individuals.

Kesha’s case may have been prolific but regardless of social standing she was not granted the freedom to take out an injunction against DR Luke and that only reiterates how deeply sexism is rooted at the heart of our culture. Because in what world but ours would we believe that women ‘were asking for it’ and wanted to be raped? Some articles state that Kesha ‘alledges she was raped’, I say she ‘was raped’ because I believe Kesha was abused at the hands of a sick, twisted man named Luke who used his male priviledge to drug and rape her after discovering her at the age of 18. It frightens me that society has normalized rape culture as an inherent priviledge that men can exhort to control women. It frightens me that we cannot walk the streets late at night without fear of sexual assault and it terrifies me that women have been so quick to judge Kesha branding her a ‘slut’ and ‘fake’. Let us get one thing straight Kesha is a rape victim, no ifs and buts about it.

When 70-90% of rape cases go unreported and 2% of rapists do not serve jail time is it little wonder that men and women are afraid to come forward for fear of jucidicial misconduct? Because that is exactly what happened to Kesha, men came crawling out of the woodwork to defend Lukes actions; Jeffery Movit said that Kesha ‘waited too long to put forward her case’ while Christine Lepera stated Kesha ‘must accept the consequences of her improper actions’ for ‘falsely alleging abuse to gain advantage in contract negotiations’. Are these men and women even hearing how hollow their words sound because I guarantee if the shoe was on the other foot it would be a different story entirely. How many of you were sexually assaulted and abused and been branded a liar? Its happened to me, I am a survivor of emotional and physical abuse and although I have never been raped I -like Kesha- have been accused of elaborating allegations to ‘get attention’. And do you know what my abuser got for tormenting me all those years? Nothing but a slap on the wrist, she was not jailed, not given community service or put on the social offenders list. Instead she was not allowed to work with children for five years and that was it. So you see all those people you accuse of being liars only serves to solidify the belief that rape culture is ok and that mens right to abuse women is an exstension of their male priviledge.

Whether you are a fan of Kesha or not let us stand against rape culture and fight for the rights of both men and women. It could be your daughter, wife, sister, aunty, mother, grandma, uncle, son, grandad, dad or husband who stand in Kesha’s shoes and I want you all to fight to liberate victims from their rapists control.

Will you stand against rape culture and fight to give men and women the justice they deserve?

Use the hashtags # FreedomforKesha #Freekeshaluke #Freekesha to show your support

*If you or anyone else has been affected by rape please get in touch with the following helplines

Rape Crisis– Call 01707 276512

Support Line Call 01708 765200

Thisisabuse  Has a directory of helplines