If the politicians making those accusations were actually concerned about ending child abuse, the kinds of institutions they would be challenging would include religious organizations, youth sports and even the nuclear family — systems that exert control over children and their bodies. These are the venues where child sexual abuse commonly occurs. The misuse of these words is not about stopping abuse, but rather a reassertion of homophobia, gender hierarchy and political control…

Calling political opponents “groomers” is clearly the latest in an unoriginal conservative strategy to name-call and character assassinate the opposition, it’s that exact frivolity that is so dangerous and corrosive to the very real and devastating experience of sexual abuse. To use these words in this way voids them of their real meaning and desensitizes civil society to bodily harms, especially those carried out under a shroud of secrecy. To weaponize this claim casually in a political debate is to degrade the lifeline of vulnerable children. When an adult uses your 6-year-old body for sexual gratification, words are the only power you have left.

A study by Child USA, an organization that investigates child abuse, found that survivors were 52 years old, on average, when they first reported childhood sexual abuse. To make matters worse, Department of Justice data suggests that 86 percent of this kind of abuse goes unreported altogether. Reasons for the delay or lack of reporting stem from a fear of not being believed and a pervasive devastating shame.