On April 6, a New York judge threw out singer Kesha’s case against Sony about the allegations that her producer Dr. Luke (Lukasz Gottwald) had sexually assaulted and emotionally abused her. New York Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich dismissed the case with an extensive list of technicalities. While this outcome was (unfortunately) predictable given our society’s history with women who have reported sexual assaults, Kesha’s case proves bad news for future cases of rape victims coming forward about their stories.

In 2014 Kesha claimed in a suit that Dr. Luke had persuaded her to move from Nashville to Los Angeles in 2005 when she was 18. That year, he had also drugged and raped her as well as continually abused her. Kornreich wrote that Kesha’s claims of emotional abuse were “insufficient to constitute extreme, outrageous conduct intolerable in a civilized society.” Even if the claims did constitute as “extreme,” the statute of limitations for claims of this nature had already passed.

The fact that rape victims are often slow to report what happened to them has been widely documented because they run the risk of having skeptics or even having their stories being turned against them. Kornreich’s statements make it seem that it doesn’t matter why Kesha took so long to come forward — Gottwald allegedly threatened to ruin her career and go after her family if she told someone — only that she didn’t come forward in time.

At the end, Kornreich said something that not only affects this case, but all rape victims seeking justice: “Every rape is not a gender-motivated hate crime.” This insensitive comment dismisses rape and rape victims by insinuating that some rape cases are more legitimate than others.

Though the term “hate crime” isn’t something to be thrown around loosely, the problem is that Kesha won’t be able to find another angle to get the justice she deserves. Even with all her fame, influence and money, her and her lawyers have to convince the judge that her being assaulted was a hate crime because assaults are not worthy of being taken to court. Even though Kesha has garnered widespread support in her plight, she is still stuck in her contract with Sony and Gottwald. If she didn’t have the resources or support like so many victims, that would make getting compensation that much harder.

Wednesday’s decision goes beyond Manhattan; it’s reminiscent of any case involving abuse or assault. Because of the stigma and suspicion against the victim that comes with reporting these cases, over half of them never get reported. As a result, almost 98 percent of rapists will never go to jail.  A high-profile case such as this and its results affect how many victims come forward and how judges, juries, friends and families act toward it. It lowers the victims’ confidence, it arouses doubt on their story’s legitimacy and it ultimately ends up in fewer and fewer people getting the retribution that they deserve. On Wednesday, when Kesha lost, it felt like we lost too.