The empty chair sits next to the 35th woman in a recent New York Magazine project shedding light on Bill Cosby’s sexual assaults.
Although the front-facing, emotionless women send a powerful message, the empty chair speaks louder than all of their words combined. It symbolizes the 11 women who accused Cosby of assault, but did not allow their photo to be captured for the project – even worse, it symbolizes the numerous other women who may have been assaulted and have yet to come forth.
The empty chair garnered much attention after the project was released, and has since become a trending hashtag – it started when Elon James White published #TheEmptyChair to his personal Twitter. From there, women who previously felt like they couldn’t speak out took to social media to share their personal experiences and to offer support to the women still unable to take a seat. Every message is as powerful as the next:
The time of silencing women is over. Victims of sexual assault have social media and will not be disappeared.
Original article via The Cut.
Photos via Twitter.
