Fuck you and your acquittal, Jian Ghomeshi.
I’ve spent the better part of the day grappling with the bullshit, but sadly expected, news of CBC’s most famous asshole getting acquitted of four counts of sexual assault. I think every woman who knows about this case can say that it’s affected them on some level. We have all felt that brief moment of wondering if things could go south with a blind date, of wondering if this guy we have to work late with is someone we can trust, of wondering if we should just smile, nod, and walk away quickly when a strange man on the street calls out, “Hey! Smile! You’ll be prettier,” instead of giving him the finger like we so desperately want to.
We have all felt that brief stab of fear, because of something a man did.
And we have chosen to do nothing about it. Because what is there to say? What can we prove, when it’s he-said, she-said? And so, when these women started coming forward as the story broke (and if you knew anyone in the Canadian entertainment industry, then you knew someone who knew someone who had also been treated badly by Ghomeshi), alongside the horror and disgust, I think there was almost a kind of relief. I mean, all these women coming forward with similar stories indicates that this isn’t just some misguided plan to exact revenge on a poor, unsuspecting Canadian celebrity, right?
Well, see, that’s the thing. Yes, Ghomeshi was acquitted, after his lawyer unravelled each witness’ story and poked holes all the way through them. Yes, this was a disappointment and a reason to get angry. But what left me seething was what Justice William Horkins said in his ruling:
…the twists and turns in the complainants’ evidence in this trial, illustrate the need to be vigilant in avoiding the equally dangerous false assumption that sexual assault complainants are always truthful.
Sorry, what? Are you implying that women who come forward and take the time, money, and effort and are willing to go through the psychological damage that a trial can bring are doing it because they’re full of shit? Thanks for hammering another nail into the coffin of sexual assault survivors everywhere.
Women already believe that it isn’t worth it to go through the whole process of reporting a sexual assault to police and pressing charges. Let’s show them how right they are. Hmm, how could we do that? Let’s see, how about we get a fucking judge to say, in a ruling that will be widely publicized, that it’s wrong to assume that women who file charges of sexual assault are telling the truth? PERFECT. That should fuck women over for a long time.
At this point in my life, I feel like I’m beyond this type of potential assault. I’m married, I have kids, my milkshake doesn’t really bring the boys to the yard anymore. But I’m heavily invested in this story because I’m a mother. I have a teenage girl and a four-year-old girl who may, one day, be facing down the law because some asshole took advantage of them. I hope to god it never happens, but the statistics are alarming, so I need to be realistic.
And who the fuck do you think I want involved, should such things come to pass: a judge who believes them, who wants justice served? Or someone who believes that there are too many inconsistencies with a woman’s recollection of traumatic events that happened more than ten years ago, for any of it to be believable?
What if this young woman in this video was your daughter? Would you want the legal system to be what it was yesterday, when Ghomeshi’s acquittal was announced, if it was your daughter that was on of the claimants? I’m so sick of people telling me that he was acquitted, not found innocent. That incredibly subtle distinction will not bring closure to any woman who has been sexually assaulted. Do not stand behind the letter of the law because it’s “accurate,” stand behind the fucking sexual assault victims because they are right, they are traumatized, and they deserve our support and belief in them.
Holy shit, do we ever have a long way to go, ladies and gentlemen. #IBelieveSurvivors because someone fucking has to, these days.
Photo credit CBC