There are verdicts that have caused causes of several years. This is the case of this judgment which declares non-guilty the 2018 Canada Junior team hockey players. All The five are acquitted of accusations of sexual assault et We already debate the possibility that they can skate again in the NHL.
The young woman at the heart of the case remains on the bench. Losing throughout the line. The judge did not believe it. Final point. Do we still have the right to talk about her as a victim? Should I say the “complainant” since the court decided that his testimony was “neither credible nor reliable”? Admit that two adjectives are spanking. Words far from harmless in the context. Violent words in my eyes. Returned there, was it very necessary to denigrate a woman who takes her courage in both hands to face a whole system? Has not this woman already paid the high price to make her voice heard?
All that for nothing
I was hope that, for once, a victim would not have experienced “all that” for nothing. Nine days at the witness mark, including seven to be counter-examined, to be tied up by lawyers with a sharp language and with a disturbing gaze that some jurors have complained to the judge. The trial therefore continued without jury. Quite exceptional as a situation. Would a jury have perceived the faults in the history of the complainant in the same way? Because flaws, there were of course. Memories often have this property of being vague, especially during traumatic situations.
Appearance of consent
I deplore that the young woman’s behavior was at the heart of the trial. She explained that she had to play a role of “star porn “, convinced that she had to” collaborate “to save her skin. “It’s his truth, not the truth!” decided the courtyard who did not believe that she had acted against her will. However, it is documented that a victim can adopt “consensual appearance” behavior to end the attack. We missed a great opportunity to remind you.
It may be said that justice is impartial, there is here as a taste of deja vu. Complainant “not reliable, not credible”. Should we go back to the body of women who dare to testify each time? We just retreated by ten years.
No victim will no longer want to tell what happened to him. They will just swallow their story and bury it as far as possible. Generations of women whose speech is worth nothing, that we hang out in the mud, that we treat lies.
What message do we send to girls? And boys? I do not at all believe that they are now holding tight panties. On the contrary. This gives those who abuse a dangerous feeling of impunity.
