whisper networks

I first heard about Russell Brand's behaviour back in 2018.

some guy on twitter using Brand as an example of progression whilst trying to excuse misogyny, 2022.

A whisper network is an informal chain of information passed privately between people, often women, in order to inform and protect communities about danger. Whisper network thrive when women lose faith in formal systems of reporting sexual harassment or violence, and with a system that is not only failing women but home to many men who are perpetrating gendered violence themselves (one woman a week comes forward to report their partner in the police is seriously abusing them or their children – more than 125 came forward in 2020 and 2021) it makes perfect sense that whisper networks are being relied to create some sort of community solidarity, awareness and protection.

I first heard about Russell Brand's behaviour back in 2018 when a female comedian in no uncertain terms told me he was ‘a rapist’. And just like that, I was in the whisper network. Previous to that I had witnessed many raised eyebrows and grimaces when his name came up, but because no one had specified what about his behaviour or