WHO DO WE BELIEVE?

Recently, a 101-year-old woman in an Ottawa long-term care home reported being “walloped” with a towel by a personal service worker. Though she suffers some dementia, her family believes her. The care home’s own probe, though, found no evidence of the alleged abuse. Police and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term

Care continue to investigate.

Meanwhile, in a case that seems unrelated but has parallels, the prime minister is accused of sexual misconduct 18 years ago when he was not in political life and the woman in question worked as a journalist. An editorial decrying Justin Trudeau’s alleged actions was published at the time, and has now resurfaced. He denies acting badly. The woman is not actively pressing the issue.

Who do we believe when allegations are made that someone has abused another person, and when the evidence seems to boil down to his word against hers? (Or her word against hers; we don’t know the gender of the care-home worker.)

Who do we believe when there are complications (dementia, for instance), or anonymity and passage of time. It is difficult to know.

Trudeau has said that in instances of reported misconduct, we should start by believing the accuser. That’s the central premise of the #MeToo movement, which has seen thousands of women speak up about predatory males.

For too long, women were not believed, if they made an allegation at all. Abuse was hidden under the shiny surface of social civility. Now, the onus is slowly shifting to the accused to prove he didn’t do it.

We say “slowly” because, in Trudeau’s case, who to believe has become a matter of politics, not credibility. If you are a Liberal backer of any gender, the prime minister’s denials are good enough for you; if you are a political opponent, he should fire himself.

Neither attitude is helpful to women in general. Neither is good for the #MeToo movement; heroes and villains shouldn’t be a matter of political convenience.

But Trudeau, at least, can ultimately be judged by voters. The same remedy isn’t available for a 101-year-old woman who says she was attacked by a paid caregiver.

Her age and mental acuity led first-line authorities to reject her claims. Maybe they’re right, maybe not. Her family is installing a video camera in her room. So far, the #MeToo movement does not apply to women like her.

As a society, we are still, it seems, wildly confused about who we should believe when accusations of abuse are made.