Bill Cosby’s Alleged Victims Come Together For New York Magazine Cover

Published on July 27, 2015.

Photo by MediaPunch/REX

Over the course of several months, more than 40 women have come forward alleging that formerly beloved actor and comedian Bill Cosby had sexually assaulted them.

Now, 35 of them have come together to create a very powerful cover for New York magazine’s July 27th issue. With the women sitting in rows, the title reads, “Cosby: The Women. An Unwelcome Sisterhood,” ending the anonymity of many of the accusers.

The edition will also feature interviews and the individual stories of each of the women, as well as an array of solo and group photos and will also include an essay by Noreen Malone. “The group of women Cosby allegedly assaulted functions almost as a longitudinal study – both for how an individual woman, on her own, deals with such trauma over the decades and for how the culture at large has grappled with rape over the same time period,” Malone wrote in her essay for the story.

The various stories outline the vast scale of Cosby’s assaults of women from all kinds of different jobs and associations with the comedian and of varying ages, from their 20s to 80.

The powerful cover and article comes only weeks after it was revealed that Cosby admitted in a 2005 deposition to using Quualudes to have sex with women, but stated they were only used during consensual sex.

The revelations have caused many supporters to retract their backing of Cosby, as many see the admission as a sign of guilt in the dozens of accusations that have come forward.

So far, 46 women have come forward to accuse Bill Cosby of sexual assault, in some cases, according to a recently unsealed deposition, with the aid of quaaludes—a powerful sedative that can render a person functionally immobile. But these allegations are by no means new, with some stretching back decades—to a time when the culture of rape in America left victims little recourse but to suffer silently, and in shame. Today, the way we think and talk about rape has evolved, creating a safer space for survivors to feel empowered by speaking up and reclaiming their victimhood. And that’s led us here. Of the 46 women who have come forward to accuse Cosby, we spoke to 35 of them — “a sorrowful sisterhood” of women united by their dark experiences, steadfast in their resolve to remain silent no more. Read more: nymag.com/cosby-women.