the anonymity that shields the predator

Yolanda has been preyed on by a sponsor and cannot bring herself to name him, invoking the Program's own anonymity as the reason — the naming-taboo that protects members instead protecting the man exploiting her. The communication norm becomes a wall around the very information that would stop the harm, so that Gately has to decode the predator's identity from oblique tells (south-side, digital watch) rather than simply being told. A confidentiality meant to make honesty safe here keeps a truth unspeakable. [sweep · shared-ground addiction-recovery]