By Jocelyn Noveck | Associated Press
NEW YORK — #MeToo founder Tarana Burke has heard it before. Every time there is a legal setback, the movement is declared dead in the water. A legal success, and presto, he lives again.
So Burke, who coined the phrase “Me Too” nearly two decades ago from her work with sexual assault survivors, found herself declaring after New York’s highest court overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction on Thursday: The record of #MeToo is greater than that of any court. case. It’s still there and it works.
The most obvious evidence, Burke said: “Ten years ago, we couldn’t get a man like Harvey Weinstein into the courtroom. » The movement, she said, is responsible for this enormous cultural shift – regardless of the Hollywood mogul’s ultimate legal fate.
Anita Hill, who testified against Clarence Thomas during his 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearing, also sought to take the long view, after a legal setback that stunned many survivors and advocates. -century before the Weinstein affair launched the #MeToo movement.
Along with her academic career, Hill now heads the Hollywood Commission, which seeks to combat harassment in the entertainment industry. She sought Thursday to reassure survivors that progress is real.
“I want those who are saddened by the New York Court of Appeals’ decision to know that no court ruling can ever match the enormous progress we have made together in the movement against sexual violence,” Hill said to the Associated Press in an email.
“The movement will persist,” she added, “carried by the truth of our testimonies. And changes to our systems and culture will follow.
It was, of course, a difficult morning for sexual assault survivors across the country, as Burke acknowledged at a hastily arranged press conference in Manhattan after the court’s ruling with activists including Ashley Judd , one of Weinstein’s first accusers.
In what Judd called an “act of institutional betrayal,” New York’s highest court, in a 4-3 decision, ordered a new trial, saying the first damaged Weinstein, 72 , with inappropriate decisions, including letting some accusers testify about allegations. that was not part of the case. Weinstein will remain in prison, however, as he was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape.
Among those who testified in New York was Dawn Dunning, a prosecution witness, who told the court how, during a business meeting, Weinstein slipped his hand under her skirt and fondled her genitals.
Dunning told the AP through her lawyer, prominent #MeToo advocate Debra Katz, that she was “shocked” by Thursday’s ruling and was dealing with a range of emotions , notably by asking yourself: “Was all this for nothing?”
“It took two years of my life,” Dunning said. “I had to experience this every day. I had to experience the terror of confronting Weinstein. But would I do it again? Yes.”
She said that by confronting the producer, she faced her worst fear and realized that he had no power over her. And she was proud that her testimony helped other women get justice.
Katz said she spoke to Dunning and other accusers — women who felt “gutted” — reminding them of the important role they played in the broader fight against sexual abuse and violence.
“They testified at the cost of great personal sacrifice. … It changed their lives,” Katz said. “And to feel like maybe all of this was for nothing is a very, very, bad feeling.”
Nonetheless, Katz was confident that Weinstein would be found guilty in a retrial.
“Their testimony was invalidated by the court today due to legal technicalities,” Katz said. But “no one doubted the veracity of their testimonies, nor the courage of their testimony. Although this is a setback in this case, I believe their testimony changed the world. »
The testimony fundamentally changed the way people perceive and respond to issues of sexual assault in the workplace, she said.
“And their courage has grown beyond this case – people continue to come forward, people continue to support other victims who have reported sexual assault and violence, and I truly believe that there is no no going back,” Katz said.
Erika Rosenbaum, a Montreal actress who made her own accusations against Weinstein in 2017, echoed this view and has since spent years speaking to groups, particularly young people, about sexual harassment and abuse.
“On the contrary, I feel like (#MeToo) is a movement that is growing stronger all the time,” Rosenbaum said in an interview. “This is truly a movement of incremental steps, sharing stories and supporting each other. And that doesn’t change with a court decision… Because it really is a culture change. There are ups and downs, there are fights. But it’s something that will continue.
Like her, many advocates saw this moment, as disheartening as it was, as an opportunity to call for renewed efforts to advance the #MeToo message.
“Today’s decision does not erase the truth about what happened,” said Fatima Goss Graves, director of the legal defense fund Time’s Up. It’s important to remember, she said, “that one well-known case does not define this movement.” We are a force.
Graves noted that the fund has supported some 9,000 people who filed sexual harassment claims since 2018 and funded 300 lawsuits. The fund is managed by the National Women’s Law Center in Washington; the larger Hollywood-based group, launched in 2017, transferred all of its resources to the fund in January 2023.
Burke emphasized in an interview that while legal advancements are necessary for progress, “the justice system has never been a friend of survivors. So that’s why we need movements, because movements have always been what pushed the legal system to do the right thing.”
Burke said she spent the morning speaking to accusers, including actress Annabella Sciorra, who testified during the 2020 trial that Weinstein raped her.
“I can understand how devastating and disgusted and angry it is, just the range of emotions that so many of them must be feeling,” Burke said. “And I hope they understand, for those of us survivors who will probably never see a day in court, that they are still heroes to us.” »
Burke, who spoke about her own past as an abuse survivor, added that she could never imagine facing her own abuser in court.
“So the simple fact that they were able to do this, to bring a person, a man like Harvey Weinstein, to account for his crimes, is incredible,” she said.
Associated Press reporter Alexandra Olson, a member of the Women in the Workforce team, contributed to this report. Women in Associated Press and state government coverage receive financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropic organizations, a list of supporters, and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
California Daily Newspapers
