Taking action against sexual violence: The Harvey Weinstein scandal
Over the past two weeks, Harvey Weinstein’s public image has been transformed from media mogul to disgraced outcast. At the time of publishing:
- 47 women have come forward, accusing Weinstein of sexual assault
- Weinstein has been ousted from his own production company, The Weinstein Company
- His wife, Georgina Chapman, has left him
- He has been removed from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The stories of his accusers vary, but a common theme has emerged: Weinstein used his influence within the Hollywood system to coerce young women into engaging in sexual acts with him. His actions threatened implicitly that their careers would be over if they refused. While the allegations came as a shock to the general public, within Weinstein’s circles, his acts have been described as an “open secret.”
The term “open secret” was also used in a 2014 Maclean’s article that described the sexual assault allegations against CBC radio host, Jian Ghomeshi.
The appalling number of cases of men using their celebrity to exercise power over women demands an answer to the question:Why was nothing done at the time of the assaults, and why do these types of assaults continue to happen?To better understand this appalling phenomenon, The Ontarion contacted the Guelph Resource Centre for Gender Empowerment and Diversity (GRCGED). Lori Guest, volunteer and resources coordinator, and Rachel Martin, events and fundraising coordinator, expressed in a joint statement that survivors of sexual assault face many obstacles when they come forward.
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“Survivors’ fear of coming forward goes beyond losing their career. Every time a survivor comes forward, most people side with the celebrity perpetrator. Look at the support Jian Ghomeshi had during his trial, and Donald Trump admits he sexually assaulted a woman and still becomes the president,” Martin said. “People just don’t believe survivors. Sexual assault is the least-reported crime and has the fewest false reports.”
This sentiment of victim-blaming has been made palpable through the ongoing exposé of Harvey Weinstein. Many have expressed their disapproval towards high profile actresses, such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, for not speaking up after their interactions with Weinstein. Furthermore, others, such as designer Donna Karen, received criticism from survivors for saying that women should ask themselves whether they’re “asking for it,” based on the way they present themselves.
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This dismissive viewpoint is also evident in court. “There are many issues with the court system, one of which is that survivors are called witnesses under the law and that the offence was actually against the Crown/the state,” Martin’s statement reads.
This trend of men in power using their influence to assault women is not limited to the entertainment industry. The tech industry, another industry dominated by men, has also been under scrutiny this past year for the way sexual harassment in the workplace is handled. Similarly, there are high statistics of sexual assault occurring within the military.
“Having control over creating or crushing someone’s career is one of the things that women face in many types of work,” Guest stated.“Men face it as well, but sexual violence isn’t systemically used against men the way it is with women.”In order to facilitate change in the entertainment industry, current attitudes towards women in Hollywood need to change. In an interview with the BBC, Woody Allen — who has also faced allegations of sexual assault in the past — expressed regret for the women who had been assaulted, but feared that the string of accusations would negatively impact Hollywood, saying, “You also don’t want it to lead to a witch-hunt atmosphere…where every guy in an office who winks at a woman is suddenly having to call a lawyer to defend himself.”
While there are some, like Allen, who believe that this scandal will bring misfortune to the industry, others have used this as an opportunity to start conversations around workplace sexual assault. Amidst the string of accusations, other celebrities have felt empowered to tell their stories of harassment in the workplace, with some using the hashtag #MeToo on social media to show survivors that they are not alone in their experiences. The hope is that by making other victims feel as though they aren’t alone, real change can be brought about to stop anything on this scale from happening again.
In 2014
There were 22 incidents of sexual assault for every 1,000 Canadians aged 15 and older in 2014. This represented approximately 636,000 self-reported incidents of sexual assault.A higher risk of sexual assault was noted among those who were women, young, Aboriginal, single, and homosexual or bisexual, and those who had poorer mental health.
Overall, sexual assault offenders were most often men, acting alone, and under the age of 35.
Just over half of victims knew the person who sexually assaulted them. Offenders were most often a friend, acquaintance or neighbour, then a stranger.
It’s “Our Turn” to combat sexual violence on campus
As stories of sexual violence flood the media, it is increasingly important that young people are equipped with the skills and resources they need to combat this systemic issue from the ground up. The way that sexual assault survivors and perpetrators are portrayed in the media has an undeniable influence on the way we handle these incidents in our own backyard. The power relations at play in the Harvey Weinstein case are not something new. These same power relations can be seen in almost any workplace — or post-secondary institution — across the continent.
In order to change the culture surrounding sexual violence on our own university campuses, it is imperative that the policies put forward by these institutions are created with survivors in mind. Thanks to Our Turn, a student-driven organization with a national presence, this is precisely what is taking place at nearly 20 schools across the country.
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One year ago, Caitlin Salvino and a few of her classmates at Carleton, wrote an open letter to their university regarding the sexual violence policy that had been sent out to all students. While the law required significant student consultation in the process of creating this policy, according to Salvino, “when the board members passed the policy, no student was allowed in the room; we were locked outside protesting.” After the majority of the recommendations in their letter were ignored, and the policy was passed nonetheless, Salvino and her team decided it was time to take action.
“I think, for us, it was that feeling of disempowerment and not being able to be included in conversations about a policy that directly affected our lives that really moved us to start doing work,” Salvino told The Ontarion in an interview.
They began building an action plan around sexual violence for the Carleton student union. As they began reaching out to other schools for feedback, they soon realized that so many other students were facing the same issues:they were unsatisfied with the strength and scope of the sexual violence policies put forward by their institutions.Just last week, Salvino’s organization, Our Turn, released their Our Turn Action Plan to end sexual violence on campus, with the support of 20 student unions across the country. In addition to prevention programs and support options for survivors, the Action Plan also includes detailed report cards for the sexual violence policies of 14 post-secondary institutions across Canada.
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Based on in-depth consultations with various stakeholders, and a thorough analysis of over 60 sexual violence policies, the Our Turn team developed a set of criteria to evaluate post-secondary institutions’ policies. The average grade among the 14 schools included was an underwhelming C-.While the results may have been discouraging for administrators who worked tirelessly on these policies, Salvino emphasized that the goal of this evaluation was not simply to point out flaws. “It’s more to highlight that there’s actually a real gap in Canada in what should and shouldn’t be in these policies. There really is no guideline,” she explained, “so this is almost to support them as they review their policies, reform them going forward.”
In 2016, the provincial government passed Bill 132, which states that every college and university in the province must have a sexual violence policy that explicitly states their procedures for responding to incidents of sexual violence involving students. While the legislation did force institutions to come up with comprehensive policies, Our Turn told The Ontarion that there has been minimal government oversight on these policies; they have not been approved by the provincial government, and there is nothing currently in place to aid students who believe their rights regarding these policies have been violated.The Our Turn Action Plan aims to give students power over their own circumstances, and fills a very real need in our campus communities for positive action to end sexual violence. “The more that we have movements like this, student unions who are openly engaging with terms like rape culture and saying that they want to change the culture on campus, I think that that will not only encourage change, but will also encourage more survivors to feel safe and comfortable speaking,” Salvino stated.
It is her hope that within the coming months, Our Turn will be able to reach out to even more Canadian student unions to gather support for the student-led movement.
U of G’s grade
This evaluation is subjective and does not represent the views of the Our Turn organization. Based on the criteria developed by Our Turn,The Ontarion calculated a letter grade of “D” for the University of Guelph.This evaluation is based solely on the sexual violence policy and procedures as they stand alone.
Upon consultation with Associate Vice-President of student affairs, Brenda Whiteside, it is evident that some of the criteria are covered under the human rights policy. However, the University did not receive marks for any policy points that were not explicitly stated in the sexual violence policy. While it seems that in practice, the University of Guelph has followed through on many of the criteria, this is not reflected in the policy and it therefore needs to be updated.
Image by Alora Griffiths/The Ontarion