Accountability Matter

By: Dr. Larry D. Johnson

Silence is often mistaken for peace. In cases of sexual harm, harassment, coercion, or abuse, it is not. Silence can isolate survivors, protect wrongdoing, and allow institutions to avoid the difficult work of change.

Recent developments involving Cornell University bring that reality into sharp focus. A former Cornell student has filed a civil lawsuit alleging that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by multiple members of the Chi Phi fraternity in 2024. The allegations are contested and have not been established as fact in a criminal proceeding.

The case has nevertheless prompted renewed scrutiny of how allegations of sexual violence are investigated and how institutions respond when someone reports harm. On October 1, 2026, New York Governor Kathy Hochul appointed the Office of New York Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor to investigate the alleged assault. James said her office would conduct a process guided by the facts and the law.

Whatever that investigation ultimately determines, the Cornell case raises a question extending far beyond one university.

What happens after someone says she has been sexually harmed?

That question is at the heart of Dr. Larry D. Johnson’s Tell Tamar Not to Tell: Breaking the Silence on Sexual Assault Through Biblical Truth, Justice, and Healing.

Johnson turns to the disturbing account of Tamar in 2 Samuel 13. Tamar is raped by her half-brother Amnon, a son of King David. She resists him. She reasons with him. She tells him no. He refuses to listen.

But the assault is only the beginning of Tamar’s story.

Afterward, her brother Absalom counsels her to remain quiet. Scripture records that David became angry, but it records no immediate judicial action against Amnon. Approximately two years later, Absalom takes justice into his own hands and has Amnon killed.

Johnson describes what happened to Tamar after the assault as a second injury, meaning the additional harm that can occur when the people or institutions surrounding a survivor fail to respond adequately to the original injury.

Tamar therefore represents more than an ancient victim of sexual violence. Her story forces families, churches, schools, universities, workplaces, and other institutions to examine what happens when someone speaks.

Is the first concern the survivor’s safety, or the institution’s reputation?

Is the survivor heard, or managed?

Is misconduct investigated, or contained?

Is silence mistaken for healing?

The Danger of Delayed Accountability

Johnson draws another lesson from Tamar’s story. Nearly two years passed between the assault and Amnon’s death. Scripture does not say that Amnon assaulted other women during that period, and it would be wrong to claim that it does.

But the absence of recorded accountability raises an important prevention question:

If someone accused of serious sexual wrongdoing faces no immediate intervention, who else may be placed at risk?

That question moves the discussion beyond response and into prevention.

Institutions cannot wait until another person is harmed before developing safeguards. Prevention requires policies, training, reporting procedures, accountability structures, and leaders who understand what to do before a crisis occurs.

Cornell itself has acknowledged the importance of prevention. Its official Presidential Task Force on Campus Sexual Assault has recommended strategies addressing individual behavior, community culture, and institutional accountability, including clearer reporting information, expanded education, evidence-based prevention strategies, and additional training.

The principle applies far beyond a college campus, because responsible institutions must examine not only how they respond after harm is reported, but also what they are doing to reduce the likelihood of harm in the first place.

When Someone Speaks, What Should an Institution Do?

Johnson argues that organizations need a response framework established before an allegation occurs.

When someone discloses sexual harm, leaders should listen without conducting their own interrogation. They should address immediate safety, respect the survivor’s agency where legally possible, comply with applicable reporting requirements, preserve relevant records, and involve qualified authorities and independent professionals when appropriate.

Organizations must also communicate truthfully while protecting the survivor’s privacy.

These principles are not about assuming guilt before evidence is examined. Due process matters. So does taking a disclosure seriously enough to respond responsibly.

Accountability and fairness should not be treated as opposing principles.

Churches Must Move From Reaction to Prevention

Johnson’s particular concern is the faith community.

Churches frequently teach forgiveness, reconciliation, grace, and restoration. Those teachings are central to Christian faith, but they should never become substitutes for protection, truth, lawful reporting, investigation, or accountability.

A church should never pressure a survivor to forgive quickly so that everyone else can return to normal.

Forgiveness is not evidence suppression.

Grace is not institutional secrecy.

Reconciliation is not the elimination of consequences.

And protecting the reputation of a ministry is not the same thing as protecting the people entrusted to its care.

That conviction led Johnson to expand Tell Tamar Not to Tell and its larger prevention mission beyond a book. The project includes prevention resources intended to help churches examine safeguarding policies, reporting procedures, leadership practices, survivor response, training, and accountability.

The objective is not simply to teach churches what to do after sexual harm is reported. It is to help create environments in which abuse is harder to commit, easier to report, and less likely to be hidden.

From a Culture of Silence to a Culture of Safety

The culture of silence does not begin only when an institution directly tells someone to be quiet.

Sometimes it begins much earlier.

It can begin with a phrase children have heard for generations: What happens in this house stays in this house.

It can appear when protecting a family name becomes more important than protecting a child. It can surface when an organization fears bad publicity more than bad behavior. It can exist when leaders move an accused person elsewhere rather than confronting the underlying problem.

Eventually, silence can become institutional culture.

Changing that culture requires replacing silence with truth, secrecy with appropriate transparency, reaction with prevention, and institutional self-protection with survivor-centered safety and lawful accountability.

Tell Tamar to Tell

The title Tell Tamar Not to Tell deliberately confronts the counsel of silence surrounding Tamar’s story.

But Johnson’s ultimate message reverses it:

Tell Tamar to tell.

Tell her that her voice matters.

Tell her that saying no matters.

Tell her that what happened to her should be taken seriously.

Tell institutions to prepare before someone is harmed.

Tell leaders that compassion without action is insufficient.

Tell communities that accountability and prevention belong together.

And tell the next generation that silence is not the price they must pay to protect an institution.

The renewed scrutiny surrounding the Cornell allegations is another reminder that society cannot discuss sexual violence only after a case becomes a headline. The more important work begins before the next headline, by building systems capable of preventing harm, receiving disclosures responsibly, investigating allegations fairly, and holding wrongdoers accountable when the evidence establishes wrongdoing.

Tamar’s story has survived for thousands of years.

The question is whether society will continue repeating the culture surrounding her, or finally learn from it.

Dr. Larry D. Johnson is the author of Tell Tamar Not to Tell: Breaking the Silence on Sexual Assault Through Biblical Truth, Justice, and Healing, and related prevention resources focused on helping faith communities strengthen safeguarding, survivor response, accountability, and prevention.

Disclaimer: This article is intended for informational and educational purposes only. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not constitute legal, medical, psychological, or professional advice. Any references to allegations, legal matters, or sensitive issues are presented for general awareness and discussion. Readers are encouraged to seek guidance from qualified professionals when appropriate.