Diddy’s alleged abuse of Cassie is a sad reminder of how power works in society | Moira Donegan

Cassandra Ventura , the R&B singer better known by the stage name Cassie , had filed her blockbuster lawsuit in federal court against the hip-hop mogul Sean Combs only a day before Combs paid her to drop the suit.

Ventura filed her lawsuit under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, a one -time window of opportunity for victims of gender violence to sue their attackers in civil court, even after the statute of limitations has ended.

Ventura 's lawsuit comes just weeks after the actress Keke Palmer filed for a restraining order from her former partner Darius Jackson .

Moira Donegan : When women report, they are seen to be airing dirty laundry, making private something which ought to be kept private.

When they defend themselves or fight back they are smeared as abusers themselves, their actions cast as morally equivalent to those of their attackers.

Amber Heard was subjected to a defamation lawsuit by her ex-husband, Johnny Depp , after seeking a restraining order from him and obliquely alluding to his alleged abuse in an op-ed.