Why did it take so long to unmask Brand and Walliams? Because noughties culture told girls like me abuse was normal | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

As a survivor of the era, I welcome this reckoning – and I salute the women who were brave enough to bring it about Mr 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 cour