The National Organization of Woman awarded Mattress Girl the 2016 award of "Courage". article

Artist Emma Sulkowicz received the 2016 Woman of Courage award by the National Organization for Women (NOW) at its annual conference on June 24.

NOW, which is dedicated to achieving equality for women, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. “Sulkowicz did what many rape victims cannot do; she channeled her fear into a public demonstration and brought attention to her rapist’s despicable act and highly inadequate punishment,” wrote NOW president Terry O’Neill in an email to artnet News. “Emma is an inspiration to all of us.”

Now to clarify, Emma's claims were found to be false by the college investigation, the NYPD, and the district attorneys office(there are quite a few cases where the college does find them guilty but the police don't):

Nungesser was found not responsible by a university inquiry. In May 2014, Sulkowicz filed a report with the New York Police Department (NYPD), but declined to pursue an investigation after Sulkowicz discovered the case could extend past her graduation, when she would probably want to "erase all of [her] memories of Columbia".[2][3] Sulkowicz further stated that NYPD officers "badly mistreated" her and "were dismissive of what she had to say".[4] The district attorney's office interviewed Sulkowicz and Nungesser, but did not pursue charges, citing lack of reasonable suspicion.[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_University_rape_controversy

EDIT: The complaint also argues that Sulkowicz showed an intense romantic interest in Nungesser during the summer of 2012, which Nungesser spent in Germany. She sent him more than a dozen messages along the lines of “PAUL I MISS YOU PAUL I MISS YOU PAUL I MISS YOU PAULLL” and “I would LOVE to have you here – omg – we could snuggle.”

So, given this information, lets discuss the following questions:

  1. Does Emma deserve the "Woman of Courage" award?

  2. Does it discredit feminism or NOW for giving Emma the reward despite her claims being found as false by all investigative parties?

  3. What are your thoughts on NOW's (and many other feminist organizations) praising of Emma despite her claims being false?

  4. Do you consider it harassment to continuously refer to a man as a rapist even though he was never found to have raped anyone?

Also bring up any other points you want.