The charges against Mason Greenwood, the Manchester United footballer who was accused of assault and attempted rape, have been dropped. Yet the trial of both him and the woman involved in the case continues unabated online. The ongoing discussion of the case brought back painful memories of my experience at the hands of my rapist – and the verdict of online trolls about what happened to me.
When the reports about the conviction of my ex-boyfriend and abuser were published online, I did my best to ignore the coverage. But one afternoon, I scrolled through the comments on a tabloid news article about my case. I knew I shouldn’t look, but the article was about me and events that changed my life forever. I couldn’t resist; I started reading.
‘If he was her boyfriend, was any contact they had not consensual?’ read one comment. ‘They were boyfriend/girlfriend and had regular sex and she’s accusing him of rape? Am I missing something?’ asks another.
