Guilty verdict: A change in ‘hearts and minds’
The TV icon’s sexual assault conviction is a sign that the Me Too movement is opening eyes
Images of women streaming out of the Montgomery County courthouse, embracing one another in tears Thursday after Bill Cosby was found guilty on three counts of aggravated indecent assault, have become the biggest emblem of the Me Too movement.
The emotional scene that unfolded in Norristown, Pa., marked the end of a legal battle that began in June 2015, when Andrea Constand accused Cosby of drugging and molesting her in his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. Back then, the jury was deadlocked, and the judge declared a mistrial.
That Cosby was found guilty not only speaks to the power of the 60 women who joined Constand in accusing Cosby of misconduct, but it also reflects the cultural sea change of the Me Too movement and the country’s awakening to the problem of sexual harassment and assault.
“Today is a victory for survivors of sexual violence, particularly women who struggled, and definitely the Cosby accusers when they first came out, with being believed,” Tarana Burke, who founded the movement after she began using the term “me too” in 2006, said Thursday. “I think the Me Too movement started, or amplified, a national dialogue in our country that was long overdue, and that opened the door for the women like these Cosby accusers to be heard and believed.”
Burke is reluctant to gauge the effectiveness of the movement, just six months after explosive stories in The New York Times and The New Yorker revealed allegations of a reign of sexual terror in Hollywood by Harvey Weinstein. The movie mogul had a swift fall from grace as more than 80 women
came forward with stories of sexual harassment and assault — which he maintains were consensual — and opened the floodgates for accusers of other offenders.
But the activist is optimistic about the transformation of cultural attitudes about sexual harassment and assault in the 10 months since Cosby’s mistrial last June to his guilty verdict.
“One of the first things we see is measuring how people’s hearts and minds have changed, and I think we have evidence of that in this conviction. We’re coming off a time when people wouldn’t even entertain women’s allegations against powerful men. To go from that to somebody like Bill Cosby being convicted of this crime, somebody like Harvey Weinstein losing his position of power in Hollywood, it’s a different time.”
“This is the first big guilty verdict in the Me Too era,” says Los Angeles civil attorney Angela Reddock-Wright, an expert on the Me Too movement and sexual harassment cases. “Until recently, most civil cases (were) settled outside of court. Now, I believe victims will be more likely to file criminal claims, and prosecutors will be more inclined to pursue criminal cases. This case sets the tone for the rest of the Me Too movement.”
And therein lies the fundamental change: In the past few months, scores of women have leveled assault and harassment claims against more than 100 powerful men. On Facebook in October, there were more than 12 million Me Too posts, comments and reactions in less than 24 hours, by 4.7 million users.
In 13 days of testimony, Judge Steven O’Neill heard allegations from six Cosby accusers, including Constand, and the earlier jury’s “hopeless deadlock” gave way to a unanimous decision to convict.
“The biggest thing that differentiated this trial from the last Cosby trial was that the court allowed testimony from additional victims,” says Scott Berkowitz, president of Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, a group that combats sexual violence.“One of the things Me Too has accomplished is showing the public how common these kinds of crimes are, and the fact that often these are serial predators. So being able to take that message into court and show that long pattern of predatory behavior really turned the tide.”
Cosby’s conviction also provides a reminder why Me Too was so powerful in the first place. In recent weeks, men who were accused of harassment and misconduct have appeared to begin planting the seeds for career comebacks. Reports speculated that Louis C.K. and Matt Lauer are planning their returns, and Charlie Rose has floated a potential series that would feature interviews with other men accused of similar misdeeds.
“Throughout the course of our lifetime, men always survive these accusations. Their careers are not derailed. They go on with their lives. They make the same money and maybe more money,” says Toni Van Pelt, president of the National Organization for Women.
Pelt hopes Cosby serves jail time but says that won’t be punishment enough.
“He should be made to set up a fund for the victims, just like they did with the Catholic priests, (and) have to put up the money so they can go back to school or get mental health care or whatever it takes to make them whole.”
The verdict may spark new victories for the movement, lawyers and activists say, by opening the door for other district attorneys to pursue rape and assault cases they might have considered too difficult before. It may also encourage legislators to remove statutes of limitations and make it easier at trial to bring in testimony from additional accusers.
“I predict that in the next week we’ll hear from state legislators in 15 or 20 states wanting to know what they can do,” Berkowitz says. “These problems aren’t always visible unless there’s something that draws public attention to it.”
And sometimes that visibility comes from millions of women using a hashtag.
“The power of people’s collective voices always creates change,” Burke says. “There are so many more victories to come. We’re just really scratching the surface, because it’s only been six months. I’m excited for what the future holds.”
“This is the first big guilty verdict in the Me Too era. ... This case sets the tone for the rest of the Me Too movement.” Angela Reddock-Wright Los Angeles civil attorney and expert on sexual harassment cases