Victim’s Trudeau story hijacked to make political hay, says assault expert
For all the political back and forth on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s alleged groping of a reporter 18 years ago, a Calgary-based expert on sexual assaults says the victim’s story should never have been dug up without her permission.
Trudeau’s past conduct came under fire after an allegation made in a newspaper editorial in 2000 that he had “groped” a reporter resurfaced in recent months.
At a news conference in Calgary on Friday, the prime minister responded to a statement issued by the woman, saying he apologized after the incident and the woman “perceived (his actions) in a different way than I acted or how I experienced it.”
Trudeau’s political opponents have used the allegation and his reaction to the statement as a rallying cry against the prime minister and his feminist image.
But Danielle Aubry, executive director for Calgary Communities Against Sexual Abuse, says the victim’s experience and story have been hijacked.
“It’s very unfortunate for her in that respect because we need to be able to respect when people haven’t been able, willing (or) wanting to talk about it,” Aubry said.
“I feel bad for her because she didn’t bring this up. Maybe she did 18 years ago, but if it wasn’t our PM ... this wouldn’t be getting any airtime because sexual violence has happened for years on end and it’s not covered.
“I can’t speak to what he should or shouldn’t have said, but ... society has been accepting of certain kinds of behaviours,” she said.
She also said those behaviours need to stop and, much like Trudeau said on Friday, Aubry said every Canadian has a role to play in ending sexual harassment and abuse.
“So we have to make a choice as a society. Are we going to continue to just accept that or ... are we going to start having these conversations?”
As for Trudeau’s comments on the differing perceived experiences between men and women, Aubry says the prime minister raised a very real aspect of sexual assault that shouldn’t be discounted.
“Have women experienced these kinds of experiences differently than men? Oh, yes, they have,” Aubry said. “And not just women. The ones that are being victimized, they do experience it differently.”
Aubry said contacting victims of assault about their past trauma or telling their story without their consent has a very real danger of forcing the survivor to relive the event before they are ready to come forward. She says victims “have remained silent for many years for lots of different and, typically, very good reasons.”
And while it may be convenient to put the resurfaced allegations against Trudeau under the #MeToo umbrella, Aubry said that movement is for survivors to come forward about their experiences — not for others to do so on their behalf.
Aubry also echoed some of Trudeau’s comments about a “collective awakening ” in society around issues of sexual assault. She said the only way to change the “insidious” behaviour of people in power is to talk about sexual assault openly, but not if the victim isn’t involved or doesn’t want to talk.
“The survivor, the victim, is the person who needs to be making the choices around this, and who need to be believed,” she said.
Aubry said there is only a six per cent reporting rate of sexual assault in Canada, and continuing conversations around sexual assault in the public sphere will go a long way toward creating “the safety that people need to come forward.”