Thinking "only a small portion of people are like that" is a terrible defence to anything. Here's why:

Often, I'll see this response to various kinds of problematic behaviour. In feminist circles, it'll be in defense of men who aren't rapey or abusive. In the circle of people defending "not all men", they'll act like women are overreacting or that feminism isn't valid since "most" men don't rape. In response to racism, people will act like prejudices are a non-issue since "most" people aren't racist. Suddenly, everyone you come across who says they don't condone a certain behaviour will act like that invalidates the issue at hand.<br><br>Well, they're wrong. It does not invalidate the issue. In fact, only a small portion of people ever DO rape, beat or abuse their spouses, discriminate based on race or gender, etc. Yet, they are legion enough to make these issues that need to be addressed. Sexual abuse and assault, racism, transphobia, misogyny, ableism, all of these come from the actions of a minority that still drasticaly affects the lives of the majority.<br><br>Further, these are a minority of the *established cases*. Far more go unreported or are misunderstood or unpunished. They get away with it, and the victims are left with no justice, no apology, no closure. <br><br>That is a terrible thing, and the fact that most people don't get justice is far more important than the fact that only a small percentage of people are fucking up. What we need to remember is that it's good that rape is committed by a small minority of people, but what's important is that rape is committed. The fact that there's no magic number in the proportion of people committing these abuses is irrelevant. <br><br>It's time people stop misunderstanding this.