The myth that sexual violence is perpetrated by strangers in dark alleyways has long since been debunked; the vast majority of sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the victim. This article examines how individuals and communities nevertheless experience epistemic and moral barriers when reacting to reports of sexual violence levelled against community members, friends, and loved ones. Love can, for example, cloud our moral and epistemic oughts when responding to sexual violence, through such avenues as mutual identity constitution (...) and epistemic partiality, which then contribute to discourse and practices that normalize sexual violence. I draw on Miriam Toews’ 2018 novel, Women Talking, to demonstrate that this social framework can be inverted through the very emotions that in part generate it, namely love and care. I argue that we can catalyze the drive to preserve our relationships with loved ones and community members who perpetrate harm by foregrounding moral accountability and transformation, atonement and amends, as preconditions of continued relationships. The upshot of this is the development of new moral norms and practices that deconstruct the widespread and casual nature of sexual violence. Importantly, this article and the course of action it explores is aimed at individuals whose wellbeing is not jeopardized through accountability projects. (shrink)