He Said/She Said

Yet another famous person is being accused of rape or uninvited groping or similar misconduct (sexual or otherwise).  People who have never been in the victim's situation, obviously, can't understand why they didn't report it at the time.  Why they didn't report then is less the issue in my mind than this:  Why are they reporting now?

Rape victims in particular are reluctant to come forward.  There's a lot of shame, a lot of emotional trauma involved.  Some of us (yes, us) even feel we are somehow to blame.  Again, I'm not questioning the lack of reporting at the time.  I'm questioning why report years, even decades, later?

Sometimes they say it's because he is now in a position of power that she fears will endanger others.  Sometimes it's because they only recently recovered the memories or got up enough guts to speak out. Those are valid reasons.  

But the physical evidence is likely long gone.  There's the question of remorse - has the attacker, quite frankly, learned better in the intervening years?  The people who wouldn't believe you then are less likely to believe you now.  The shame, the self-blame, is going to be multiplied by the Court of Public Opinion.  Unless you can stand with a group of his other victims, or with witnesses, why report it at all?  

That's what I can't understand about these reports. 

*Technically, what happened to me was not rape.  But neither are many of the incidents celebrities are being accused of, so I'm including myself here.

** My use of  "he" and "she" are not intended to imply only males victimize only females.  It's simply to simplify the language.