He phrased it badly, but Stephen Fry pointed out something important: trigger warnings are oppressive too

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. This week he was at it again, warning victims of rape and child sexual abuse not to become “self-pitying” by encouraging the use of trigger warnings to alert people to explicit or potentially upsetting content in literature or theatre. Here, Fry’s point is actually one that many feminists and abuse victims – the very people who have marched with digital pitchforks this week - would fully agree with: that ‘trigger warnings’ and the like act only to stifle debate and smother the voices of those who are raped or abused. Self-care – whether heeding ‘trigger warnings’, choosing to move in ‘safe spaces’, or removing oneself from tricky conversations – puts all the emphasis on the victim. He chose his words badly, no doubt, but in defending the right to full freedom of speech – and to discuss rape and abuse in the most open and provocative manner possible – he’s doing more to tackle these problems than those who seek to protect victims to the point where they’re marginalised all over again.