How do you fight an irrational fear? If you joke about rape or pedophiles you get shit on until you lose your career. Not sure what the answer is, but I hope there is someone out there smarter than I who cam come up with something.
I don't claim to be smarter, but from what I gather, the best policy against irrational fear is education. Superstitions hold nothing over you if you know they're just a product of fiction. But we're dealing with real people here, not fairy tales. Except... that's what that is: a nightmarish tale spun by people yearning for attention and views for no fucking reason whatsoever. What could a possible benefit be from scaring half a country into a lonely corner? So what do we do? I don't know. I wish I would, but I don't, so I eagerly await the smarter person along your side. In the meantime, this kind of reasoning is what we could use (watch for a full minute).