I didn't believe the women accusing Jian Ghomeshi, and I'm ashamed

[Blue_Tires]

Last week I came face to face with my own bias and I was left with a deep sense of regret and shame. I consider myself an ardent supporter of women’s rights and being a survivor of sexual violence myself, one would think that I would have rushed to believe the women that Jian Ghomeshi allegedly sexually assaulted. But I did not. In fact, I doubted their credibility. And for this, I am ashamed.


When I read Ghomeshi’s Facebook post, I sided with him, believing that this 20-something-year-old woman was in fact, as he described, “a jilted ex-girlfriend.” It is no secret that Jian is a powerful, wealthy Canadian celebrity and I imagined a scorned ex-lover with an agenda to destroy his reputation.


I pictured her as a beautiful model or a socialite, maybe someone who didn’t get her way and was now spewing defamatory material to get back at him. Maybe she wanted a relationship. Maybe she wanted money. When other women anonymously reported similar sexual attacks by Ghomeshi, I dismissed their claims, largely because they were anonymous and their anonymity somehow made their statements less real and less credible, at least in my mind.


Then we heard from Canadian Actress Lucy DeCoutere, who came forward with details of her alleged assault by Ghomeshi. I started to become more skeptical of my own previous presumptions. On Thursday I read the piece by author and lawyer Reva Seth, who gave insight into what a sexual encounter with Jian was like, writing that “it was like he became a different person . . . He was super angry, almost frenzied and disassociated.”


I remember turning to my housemate and saying, “It’s not looking good for Jian. I think he might be guilty.” He inquired, “Why do you think that now?” I responded, “Because this lawyer who was clearly more powerful than him back in the day has no reason to lie. She is happily married with kids, and she is coming out and saying what he did to her. And what about that actress? She clearly doesn’t need fame or money. She already has those things. She doesn’t really have a reason to lie.”


And then it struck me. I chose to believe an actress and a lawyer but not the anonymous women who were likely brutalized by Jian Ghomeshi. Why? Because the actress and the lawyer came from professions associated with fame, money and power. Their occupations, marital status and lack of anonymity gave them more credence. And that is when an unsettling feeling consumed me. I was part of the problem.

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/11/02/i_didnt_believe_the_women_accusing_jian_ghomeshi_and_im_ashamed.html

[Enrique]

1. she might be going too far in the other direction

I don't think there's anything to be ashamed of in making a wrong judgement based on not enough information. As far as I know, all she did was come to a personal conclusion. She didn't take any reckless action based on that faulty judgement, she didn't take any action at all.

And I hope she and all of us realize that she still doesn't have all the facts, and neither does any of us. I personally find Lucy DeCoutere highly credible, after watching her video, and I think Ghomeshi likely assaulted a bunch of women. If I'm wrong I won't be ashamed because I'm admitting my uncertainty. There are some people who will insist he's guilty and that we know all we need to know. THOSE are the people that should be ashamed. Same in the other direction, unlikely to see them here at DU but they are out there, dismissing the women's claims with no basis.

[Kalidurga]

2. I agree there is no shame in withholding judgement

I am usually late to jump on a bandwagon. I won't even jump on the all LEOs are out to kill minorities and handicapped people, however I find it very likely that if they kill someone that they didn't need to. That being said I will give em a minute to explain. And just because someone yells abuse doesn't make it so, if that were true an accusation alone should lead to a prison sentence. I will not dismiss a claim just because, I will not declare a person guilty just because either.

[Jim Lane]

3. I also don't see the shame in giving less credence to anonymous accusations. (n/t)

[applegrove]

4. As if a model or a socialite could never be victims of crimes. As if they would

never be targeted by a creep or a monster.

[ncjustice80]

5. False accusations are very rare, something like 2% of cases.

If a woman says a man assaulted her, it is 98% likely that he did.

Also keep in mind something like 1 in 5 men have committed rape in their lifetime!