Laws generally change based on public opinion and not legal theory so I suspect they will change a lot more quickly if large parts of society can see the issues and they are not swept under the rug. The lynch mob is an unfortunate double-edged sword that can indiscriminately cut whoever gets near it, but real cases of abuse need visibility regardless of evidence for anything to get done.
I'm also curious, I see the line of "disservice to real victims" thrown around often. If that were true, you might guess they would mostly be siding against people who speak out without evidence. Are they mostly doing that? Are even any of them doing that?
I only have limited experience with people who have been victims of rape (Without wanting to go into too much detail, I know a rape victim very well and see that person regularly) and I had also limited dealings with the support group of that person, which is made up of people with similar experiences and two psychologists. The trouble and problems that they have to overcome and deal with are so basic, that shouting it out loud in public, and specifically on the internet, is the last of their intentions and worries. I had asked about this once (as tactful as I could) and was basically told that "this doesn't help repairing the damage that is done (which one person said, is basically irrepairable) and won't help avoid those things." In fact, there was a common underline of using the established institutions correctly. Many vicitms stay silent and don't go the necessary institutions (again, because they have more basic troubles to deal with). Circumventing them by shouting about it (without evidence) is seen fairly negatively by those people I have spoken to. But again, that's a limited sample size. Maybe the majority of real victims disagrees and approves of public lynchings like that. I don't, however.
So, most of them don't take any sides here (except for their own, maybe) because it's not where the battlefield is, as I understand it. And having seen how broken someone can be by being a victim of a crime like this is not only terrifying but one of the most heartbreaking things I have ever seen. I really do struggle putting it into words.
As for why people commit crimes like that, I don't know. I am not a psychologist, so I can only speculate. But I believe that rather than make everyone fear lynch mob "justice" and thus stifle any open discussions (remember, they will lynch you for even not using the correct pronouns), it is better to look at this from the long-term, IMHO: Usually some parameters in the upbringing of a perpetrator are off (maybe unstable family environment, maybe one of the parents did the same thing to the perpetrator, etc.). That's the real problem. And that's where discussion and solutions should focus on and that's what the people whom I have spoken to hinted at. Ask for the "why?" and try to fix that. But one common characteristic that I could observe was that they weren't really vengeful.
I am certainly not saying nor advocating that we should sweep the issue under the rug, far from it. What I would like to have is a reasonable environment to discuss this in, like a normal issue. You don't help anyone by entering the room screaming and pointing fingers. It is far more helpful to come in prepared, hear all the arguments, make your own arguments and try to come to a solution. And my personal belief is that this can be done within the systems that are already established.
Don't know if any of this makes sense or if this answers your question. Sorry if it doesn't.
