as a former member who left over something far less severe (the deeply suspect way leadership handled the split a few months back, plus a creeping feeling that rank and file - including myself - were just seen as employees to be exploited by a bunch of shitty bosses), I think PSL is very much a not-actually-democratic centralist org where dissent - even in supposedly dedicated spaces for it - is seen as a threat and is squashed and where leadership expects blind deference and obedience. 

this is the exact kind of environment that breeds horrific coverups like this one and which suffocates accountability for harmful behavior and makes it impossible to protect and genuinely care for victims. like i said in my post, this type of harm is obviously a society-wide issue under patriarchy that doesn't have an easy quick fix, but removing this ossified, corrupt leadership clique would be a necessary precondition in the specific context of PSL.