Chanting protesters dub ruling ‘mansplaining’

Decision greeted with disdain by hundreds rallying in support of sexual assault victims

Moments after Judge William B. Horkins delivered his verdict in the trial of Jian Ghomeshi, a woman wordlessly hammered a small sign into the lawn outside Old City Hall.

“To my sisters: I believe you. Thank you,” it read.

As she planted the message, two dozen demonstrators stood side by side, signs facing toward the court. Their chant of “We believe survivors!” rang out for nearly 30 minutes.

That message continued to echo into the evening, as about 400 demonstrators took part in a rally and march down Bay St., supported by the Ryerson Students’ Union, OPSEU and other groups, joined by two of the complainants, actress Lucy DeCoutere and another known publicly as complainant No. 1.

“When the story first broke . . . there was a wave of correspondence that came from various folks who were saying that they believed me, but it was believing survivors,” DeCoutere said. “It was entirely heart-cracking and overwhelming and so intensely humbling.”

DeCoutere added the verdict was just “phase one” of the conversation, a sentiment echoed by the other complainant. “It is now time to keep this conversation going,” she said, to booming applause.

“Claim our bodies, claim our rights, take a stand, this is our fight,” yelled demonstrators, mainly young women, as they marched. “The system isn’t broken, it was built this way.”

The verdict was another example of “mansplaining” rape culture, demonstrators said. “Calling the complainants deceptive went a little too far,” said Meghan Ferguson, who works with the labour ministry’s Workplace Harassment Action Plan Program. She wondered if the case would “set back people who would report workplace sexual harassment.”