I Spent Hours Talking to Victims. These Verdicts Will Give Them Hope. – The New York Times

Cross-examination of Mr. Weinstein accusers sought to tap into what were likely deep-seated suspicions held by some jurors of women who report sexual assault. It is no surprise that age-old tactics were used to discredit the witnesses. At times, they were portrayed as lying for fortune or fame. They were blamed for putting themselves in a vulnerable situation. They were presented as vengeful women who regretted having consensual sex. Now the question is how long those familiar tropes will retain their power in an era when accusers stand a chance, however remote, of being believed.

Throughout the trial and the jurys deliberations, many supporters of the #MeToo movement felt a sense of urgency. If Mr. Weinstein was not held to account, they wondered, what hope was there for ordinary survivors of sexual violence seeking criminal justice?

Over the past six months, as I researched a book on credibility, I spent many hours talking with victims of sexual harassment and assault. Our conversations often turned to the meaning of accountability.

Some survivors told me they wanted nothing to do with the criminal justice system. For others, protecting possible future victims was a main reason to turn to the courts. Still others saw a criminal conviction as recognition of the harm they suffered and that it matters. For these survivors and countless others, Mr. Weinsteins conviction is cause for hope.

To be sure, #MeToo aims to accomplish much more than sending the worst offenders to prison. The movements reach is ambitious it demands that we transform our culture of male sexual entitlement and the misconduct it begets. But legal accountability is part of this evolution.

This shift may also require reforming our sexual assault laws, which continue to fixate on physical force rather than on the absence of consent. In the case of Ms. Haley, the jury believed her testimony that he forced oral sex on her, and conviction for this first-degree criminal sex act carries a maximum penalty of 25 years. But the conviction in the third-degree rape case of Ms. Mann did not require proof of force and carries a maximum penalty of only four years. What the law fails to recognize is another dynamic at work: coercion. The Weinstein accusers described him controlling their professional and personal lives in ways that were not mainly physical. But the law of sexual assault does little to account for that kind of power.

The Weinstein convictions show us that real progress is underway. But the system still mostly fails survivors. Women who are poor, of color, who come forward alone especially these women will continue to be disbelieved and blamed. Even women whose cases never make the headlines deserve more than an elusive promise of criminal justice.

Longstanding biases against accusers will not disappear overnight; not even an extraordinary conviction can remake the world. But the Weinstein verdicts indicate that we are beginning to correct course.

Deborah Tuerkheimer is a professor at Northwesterns Pritzker School of Law and a former assistant Manhattan district attorney.

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I Spent Hours Talking to Victims. These Verdicts Will Give Them Hope. - The New York Times