Jian Ghomeshi story calls for much deeper public conversation about sexual violence

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      By Karey Brooks and Irene Tsepnopoulos-Elhaimer

      The editor of Maclean’s recently approvingly claimed that the Jian Ghomeshi news is the start of a national conversation about sexual violence against women. What these events provide is the forum for a much needed conversation about women’s equality. For Women Against Violence Against Women Rape Crisis Centre (WAVAW) that conversation started 32 years ago when WAVAW opened its doors so that women could have a safe space to report sexual violence to each other. The attention paid to the allegations against Jian Ghomeshi has largely focused on one small aspect of sexual violence against women, that women underreport that violence to the police. What is required is a much deeper public engagement with the subject of sexual violence.

      Although the issue of women underreporting sexual violence to the police is important, it is not new, nor are the reasons for it difficult to understand. Imagine telling a stranger every detail about your last sexual encounter. Comfortable? Now imagine if that experience was emotionally traumatic or resulted in physical injury. Also imagine that the strangers you are telling the horrible details to are predisposed to think you’re lying. The presumptions they are operating under include deeply held beliefs such as that you waive your right not to consent if you were drinking, looked or dressed a certain way, have a certain education or profession, agreed to go to the abuser’s home, said something “encouraging” at any point in the encounter, had a personal relationship with the abuser, or simply if you are young, disabled, a woman of colour, aboriginal, or engaged in sex work. Indeed, what’s remarkable is that under these circumstances any woman ever feels safe enough to report sexual violence to the authorities.

      But that’s not the end of the story. The need to disclose the details of the crime to the authorities takes place against the background fact that the entire criminal justice system has a reputation for not responding adequately to sexual violence. Sexual violence is often under-investigated. If the case goes to trial the victim must be prepared to retell the traumatic events in an open court and face vigorous cross examination that exposes every area of a woman’s life. Thus, despite massive law reforms to this area of the criminal law, victims of sexual violence continue to report their experience of the criminal justice system as harrowing, disturbing, traumatic—a second assault.

      Conviction rates for sexual assault are also significantly lower than for other violent crimes. Armed robbery garners a stiffer sentence upon conviction than does a conviction for most sexual assaults. Even for the crimes that are investigated and successfully prosecuted, the justice administered tends not to take into account the needs of the victim. Maybe the abuser will be punished appropriately; however, what victims of sexual violence often need is assurance that the crime of which they have been a victim will be recognized for what it is—an extreme expression of discrimination against women. What matters to WAVAW’s clients is that the act not be isolated from the larger social problem it represents.

      Focusing narrowly on the truly unsurprising fact that sexual violence is drastically underreported can lead to unhelpful discussions that either implicitly blame women for their silence or conclude that the appropriate response is to increase resources in the criminal justice system. But those discussions, which often arise when there are allegations of abuse by a popular public figure or by a particularly horrific event, won’t change the status quo.

      WAVAW believes that a productive public discourse must grapple with the social context that produces sexual harm. The problem of sexual violence, including the criminal justice system’s dysfunctional response to it, is a reflection of social factors including financial, political, and social inequalities based on gender, race, disability, and socioeconomic status. It is a reflection of discriminatory and often hateful attitudes toward women and indicative of problematic social attitudes toward sexuality and gender more broadly. A multifaceted approach to the problem of sexual violence that recognizes it as an expression of women’s inequality is desperately needed and long overdue.

      So further to media claims that “something good may come of Jian Ghomeshi scandal”, we hope it is more than just an inquiry into why women don’t report sexual violence to the police. Instead, we hope this conversation shifts to the issues we have been struggling with since women started talking to us about sexual violence. We need to look at why and how intimate and workplace relationships become abusive, and have a serious conversation about our obligations to assist one another when abuse is present. We also need to change how we think and speak about women who report sexual assault (or don’t) and free ourselves of stereotypes of “jilted” women and women lacking credibility. We need to find a way to a superior path to justice. If we could move the conversation to ask why our society fosters an ethos in which women are so often denied the most basic rights of social participation and tolerates brutal expressions of the power of men over women, maybe we wouldn’t need to ask, again, why women underreport sexual violence to the police. Maybe we could focus on a future where there is nothing to report.

      Comments

      15 Comments

      T

      Nov 18, 2014 at 12:15pm

      feminism ruined his life

      Can we stop with this BS already?!?!

      Nov 18, 2014 at 1:49pm

      Let him become old news GS. Shame on you for continuing this story. And it shouldn't be because of him why this should be discussed about. It should have been discussed ages ago eh? Omg if i read one more article from the GS about him i'm taking a long break from you guys and your site.

      dee

      Nov 18, 2014 at 4:08pm

      Well said. The mainstreaming of porn has been instrumental ill normalising the idea that women are masochists, who enjoy being abused and assaulted. Under the rubric of sex, anytimg goes. The APA has become so polluted by the ideology of 'non-judgementalism', it has even begun to reclassify child sexual abuse as an 'orientation'. When institutions, in both academia and media liberalize to the point that nothing is ever wrong because all is behaviour is free choice, the scene is set to deny exploitation, abuse of advantage, harm-doing. This mentality even leads to media statements re th JG case like 'non-consensual sexual abuse'. Talk about oxymoron.. . I call statements like this , and they are by on means uncommon, 'toximorons. '

      Unless this toxic culture is challenged, root an branch, it will only get worse.

      Jason

      Nov 18, 2014 at 5:09pm

      "Jian Ghomeshi news focuses attention on how court deals with sexual assault"

      No. It doesn't. It has focused attention specifically on his behavior and his behavior alone. Which is the story the general public are interested in following. No one is remotely connecting Jian's sexually violent behavior with the larger existential question of how the courts deal with sexual assault.

      "youth punctured by racism"

      Millions of people in Canada and around the world (including Caucasians) have had their youth punctured by racism. Don't be an apologist or look for the 'root causes' of his sexually aggressive behavior. It's disgraceful journalism.

      "Jian Ghomeshi harmed CBC brand"
      No. CBC has been harming it's own brand for numerous decades. Due to poor programming choices and poor allocation of taxpayer's dollars. The Ghomeshi situation is more of a symptom rather than cause of harm to the CBC brand.

      "gives CBC Radio a chance to revamp cultural programming on Q"
      Once again I'm not sure how you're attempting to deflect the negative actions of Jian Ghomeshi by reframing the story in to an opportunity for CBC? What a bizarre reinterpretation?

      I must say I'm embarrassed for both your journalists and editorial staff for such partisan reinterpretations and inaccurate analysis of the entire Jian Ghomeshi scandal.

      sensible feminist

      Nov 18, 2014 at 9:26pm

      What I took from Jian Ghomeshi is something I already knew; that men in power are not subject to the same rules as regular, non-famous people. Kobe, Rothlesberger, MJ, Iverson, Heatley, Vick, etc. Most people go to jail, or at the very least HR for the sort of behaviour that these people have gotten away with.

      Also, if Jian is any indication, the number of men out there who are responsible for the sexual assaults of women is much lower than the number of women being sexually harassed/assaulted. As I had imagined, the sort of person who would do this thing once, might try twice, and once they've gotten away with it a few times, even with plenty of suspicion from those close to them, they see no need to change.

      If the core of Jian's audience wasn't women, this wouldn't be near as shocking as it has been…

      Here's news to you

      Nov 18, 2014 at 11:20pm

      The majority -something like %80- of sexual abuse cased are domestic-related. The victims (60% ) are underage.

      That's a real conversation stopper.

      That's why people don't talk about it.

      Yes, sexual abuse is that prevalent that more crimes take place in homes, across the country, in all cultural groups and all income brackets. It really is. It really does.

      I call this BS, but for different reasons than the above poster I think.

      http://www.sexassault.ca/statistics.htm

      RUK

      Nov 19, 2014 at 12:05am

      If Jian Ghomeshi triggers a national discussion on sexual assault and abuse now instead of 33 years ago, that's unfortunate timing but if the conversation is happening then I am for it. From a man's perspective, I think more of us are getting with the idea that male abuse is actually a man's problem and not so much for the victims, courts, police and counselors to solve - we can use positive peer pressure to reduce the amount of free-loading hostility to women out there, so that abusers do NOT feel that it is normal, their due, that she asked for it etc.

      My concern about the focus on Jian is that that we should let it go, but that it becomes his specific problem. I don't think he is that special. I think that he is notorious of course due to his being a big fish in a small pond, but I want to move the accusing finger away from one specific buttnugget as though he invented assault. That's too comfortable, to say that he was some unique weirdo. I don't think he was. I think he was just living the standard rock star dream in some ways. The concept of how we treat each other in a civilized society is much more important to talk about.

      Maybe off-topic...

      Nov 19, 2014 at 8:20am

      ...but I wonder, just out of sheer curiosity...and I am a woman...how prevalent is sexual abuse / physical abuse / rape in the gay community? I mean gay men, specifically, since we've highlighted the fact that men are largely responsible for these sorts of atrocities. It would be interesting, at least for me, to find out if there's some shit going on there that also isn't being discussed. Since it's not, can I assume it's not common?

      anna

      Nov 19, 2014 at 1:48pm

      Women don't report abuse for the simple reason that even if the police take it seriously, the courts will destroy a victim. Why go through being dredged through the legal system for nothing? I'm speaking from experience.

      jj

      Nov 19, 2014 at 4:42pm

      It's way too easy for people to imagine sexual assault as an unknown predator in the bushes or some steroid heavy twenty something guy slipping roofies into college student glasses at trashy night clubs; or Robert Pickton.

      Jian Gomeshi was someone who was linked to the liberal CBC, part of the diverse face of today's Canada. He ran with artistic people, including beautiful women like Lights, and had a left leaning crowd rushing to defend him - allegations unheard. He certainly would have had access to progressive ideas about the treatment of women. He should have known better; even worse he probably did and acted the way he wanted to anyways.

      Why didn't anyone tell? He illustrated this himself with his self-serving facebook post that caused people to pile on the anonymous "jilted" ex girlfriend. Women needed safety in numbers, or through the passage of time (as the women who have been identified illustrate), to even come out with the story. When they did, and there were many, still some people would not believe them because they didn't validate their accounts by going to the police. Because if you don't go through an invasive reporting procedure, you were clearly never harmed and have no right to speak about being harmed, you need to give someone a chance to have the government prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" that you're telling he truth first.