Four years after Harvey Weinstein’s conviction for rape and sexual assault, the New York trial must be reopened. The decision causes horror among the victims. And is a fatal signal to the MeToo movement.
When Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of rape and sexual assault in New York four years ago, not only the victims of his crimes rejoiced, but also all those who had already suffered from systemic abuse of power. For decades, Weinstein had used his influence in Hollywood to oppress women, manipulate them and force them to perform sexual acts.
Now a New York appeals court has decided that the trial there must be reopened. It is a slap in the face to those who were brave enough to testify against the influential film producer. The decision not only fails Weinstein’s victims, but also all victims of sexual violence and abuse of power.
Harvey Weinstein: Verdict was groundbreaking
In 2017, three journalists, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey from the New York Times and Ronan Farrow from the New Yorker magazine, uncovered Weinstein’s machinations. They researched this for years, spoke to rape victims, to women who had worked with Weinstein, and to high-profile Hollywood stars. It was the impetus of the MeToo movement. It wasn’t just about crimes like rape, but also about the system that is often behind sexual crimes and makes them possible.
Since then, Harvey Weinstein has stood for abuse of power and the dark side of the alleged dream factory like no other. For decades he had had careers ended when women defended themselves against him. He humiliated, bullied and caused psychological harm to countless people. Numerous women told journalists how much they feared the Weinstein monster. That it was clear to them what it would mean if Weinstein asked them to his hotel room. They described scenes that no woman would want to experience: Weinstein harassing her in a hotel room, dressed only in a bathrobe. Weinstein, who threatened them. Weinstein, how he raped her. After the conviction, quite a few of them breathed a sigh of relief. Her courage had finally been rewarded.
“The Weinstein verdict could prove to be a symbolic turning point (…) showing that sex crimes do not necessarily follow clean processes. Public perception could be reshaped – victims deserve to be heard in court,” explained Kantor and Twohey after Weinstein’s guilty verdict in an article. From a legal perspective, the trial against the former film mogul was not as black and white as it sounded to the public due to the sheer volume of bad anecdotes surrounding Weinstein.
At the time, the prosecution by the New York public prosecutor’s office was considered risky. Two of the women who testified against the now 72-year-old in court had maintained relationships with him after his crimes. Behavior that is not uncommon after sexual assault, but is nonetheless problematic for law enforcement. In addition, Joan Illuzi’s investigators had hardly any physical evidence, such as no results from medical examinations.
Overturning the verdict means retraumatization
But: The jury believed the women. And it caused a symbolic and legal turning point, which was also promoted at the time by the MeToo debate. The jury recognized that consensual sex in one situation does not necessarily mean that Weinstein may have raped women on another day.
At that time, the public prosecutor’s office called women to the witness stand who were able to explain the Weinstein system and who had themselves been victims of it. Their stories were not part of the lawsuit, but they did serve to supplement the picture. “We conclude that the trial court erred in allowing testimony about unindicted, alleged prior sexual conduct against persons other than the plaintiffs in the underlying offenses,” the presiding judge wrote in Thursday’s decision. Nothing will change for Weinstein; he will remain in custody due to a conviction in Los Angeles.
The announcement changes everything for the victims.
The accusations
From Angelina Jolie to Gwyneth Paltrow: These women are accusing Weinstein
It’s not just Hollywood that reacts with shock to the annulment of the verdict; the decree also leaves many in legal circles stunned. Madeline Singas, an appellate judge in New York, told The Wrap that the court had “continued a disturbing trend of overturning jury convictions in sexual violence cases.” The decision “perpetuates outdated ideas about sexual violence and allows perpetrators to evade responsibility.”
What Singas means: It’s difficult to prove a sex crime in court anyway. As the Weinstein case and the MeToo movement have repeatedly shown, not every victim of a sex crime is bruised or bears other physical marks. Also, not all victims have the opportunity or awareness to be examined by medical professionals and to secure evidence. Going to the police and reporting your tormentor is still a step that many victims simply do not dare to take. The fear that you won’t be believed is too great, and it’s too unlikely that a verdict could come about.
For Weinstein’s victims, the announcement from New York means that they will have to describe what they experienced again if the trial is reopened. Retraumatization by the state is not only emotionally extremely stressful.
In 2020, it seemed as if the MeToo movement, triggered by the courage of numerous women (and some men too), had borne fruit. As if something could really change in how we deal with victims of sexual violence, how they are treated, how we listen to them. Because context is important and, as a result, an understanding of the many nuances that sexual assault has.
A nice dream.
Four years after the groundbreaking verdict, the victims are being abandoned again. And the fact that the person who triggered the MeToo movement can claim this as a success, the man who started it all is as fatal and perverted as his actions were.
source: “The Wrap”
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