Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was found guilty Monday of rape and sexual assault in a Manhattan court. Jurors stopped short of convicting Weinstein on the more serious charges of being a sexual predator.
Although he is.
More than 90 women have accused Weinstein of rape and related offenses over the past 30 years. Weinstein faces five to 29 years for the two felonies, as well as other charges in California.
As a successful producer — “Shakespeare in Love,” “Good Will Hunting,” “Pulp Fiction,” — Weinstein, age 67, used sexual violence as a way to control the futures of young proteges. Keep quiet and you get the role. And yes, that’s sick.
Equally tragic is the fact that Weinstein’s behavior was referred to as an “open secret,” — that is, acquaintances kept his monstrous acts under wraps perhaps out of fear of personal retribution, or to protect their own careers or that of the film industry.
BECAUSE Weinstein’s victims included famous women, the #MeToo initative against sexual harassment and violence got the star power necessary to make it a worldwide movement.
Finally, women are feeling the support they desperately need to come forward in a court of law.
Some big figures have since been taken down, including Bill Cosby, Charlie Rose, Matt Lauer, and Roger Ailes, the producer of Fox News.
In the trial against Weinstein, the prosecutor characterized him as a Hollywood big shot who thought he could get away with treating women as “complete disposables.”
Which is how abuse starts. A lack of respect. A sense of entitlement. A desire to intimidate.
For healing, it’s crucial that sexually and emotionally abused women realize they are not guilty nor should they be ashamed of their situations.
They did not “invite” abuse.
Learning to respect each other — and their boundaries — is the first step to becoming a civil society.
The lessons should start on Day One.
— Susan Lynn
