11 Nov 2026, 09:01 PM

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As a survivor of the era, I welcome this reckoning – and I salute the women who were brave enough to bring it aboutMr Justice Bennathan’s sentencing remarks in the trial of Russell Brand hit me like a train, and I know I’m not the only one. This week my Instagram feed has been full of female friends, colleagues and acquaintances sharing his words: “Whatever women wear, wherever they go, indeed whatever they drink, they retain the right to say no and to demand justice from the criminal courts when sexual predators like you, Russell Brand, act without their consent.” Those same women are now sharing the Guardian and ITV’s investigation into David Walliams, who is accused of preying on young women for sex, with the same fury and fervour (Walliams has denied the allegations against him).Both of these stories concerning predatory male behaviour took place in an era when I was a young woman: the “lad culture” era. It dated from about the mid-to-late 90s until the beginning of the #MeToo movement in 2016, and those of us who came of age during it sometimes joke bleakly that it’s a miracle we made it out in one piece. Some of us didn’t, and those victim-survivors live with the daily impact of male coercion, abuse and violence, still.Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

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