We can’t blame victims for not coming forward earlier but we must find ways of protecting those who do, as it’s not their fault
The big talking point of the week has been the Harvey Weinstein scandal. It seems everyone has something to say about it.
It reminds me of the terrible stories we’ve heard about the abuse of power in football. Both situations have been about people in positions of power, control and wealth using their status for evil.
If you’ve always had a dream to be a movie star or a footballer, the threat of someone ending that dream if you speak out must be so scary. Will you be ostracised? Will the community shun you? There are also the feelings of shame and embarrassment that it has happened to you. It is never the victim’s fault, but those feelings are commonplace.
And if you are brave enough to tell someone, will that person be brave enough to take it further – or will they do nothing?
I reckon that, with the Harvey Weinstein situation, there may be much more to come.
There must have been people who knew what was going on. And, for selfish reasons, or because they were scared, they never spoke up.
You will always get people protecting their own interests. So many women have spoken up since the first few women agreed to go public.
There’s been criticism from some quarters that the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie didn’t speak up sooner. They are huge stars now – but when it happened to them, they weren’t.
And Angelina did say in her statement that she chose not to work with Weinstein again and warned others who chose to work with him about his alleged behaviour.
I don’t think victims should be criticised for not coming forward sooner.
It’s a huge step for anyone to take – and people, no matter what walk of life they are from, find strength in numbers. That’s why so many allegations are coming out now.
Most people are not brave enough to be a lone voice and we can’t blame them for that.
I’m a huge believer that, within sport, there must be safeguarding units. People need to be able to go to someone independent, who will be able to take action, without victims fearing repercussions.
And we need to think of different ways of protecting the vulnerable.
On TV a few months ago I saw a group of teenage girls who had created an app to fight cyberbullying. It was safe for users, who could remain anonymous but still get advice.
These abuses of power occur in many walks of life and Hollywood is no different.
But hopefully we can find a way to make it easier for victims to come forward without fear.
Most people are not brave enough to be a lone voice, to take it further