REACTIONS TO VERDICT

For most who followed the trial of Jian Ghomeshi, his acquittal came as no surprise. But in the language of Judge William Horkins’s decision and the conversations sparked by the trial, some observers see a system grappling with the issue in a new era of u

Brenda Cossman, law professor and director of the Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies at U of T

“I don’t think the decision at the end of the day was that surprising. And yet, taken together, (it) sends a scary message to future complainants. A lot of women who come forward as complainants might just say, ‘Whoa, I’m not going to do that. There are too many landmines: were my facts good enough, am I forthcoming enough, did I forget to tell something?’ Our sexual assault laws are pretty well written, but they’re only as good as the culture and the social norms that interpret them. Around sexual assault we still are hoping for this simple, crystal-clear narrative of victims who behave like appropriate victims, and none of these three did that.”

Jennifer-Leigh O’Neill, advocate for sexual assault survivors

“I fully anticipated an acquittal. What inspired me to pay attention to (the trial) is not Ghomeshi but the fact that he’s a name that will bring attention to this issue. Sexual violence is an epidemic in Canada and whether Ghomeshi is on trial or not, it’s an epidemic in Canada. It’s come to the point where I thank him for giving us an opportunity to voice ourselves and have the media pay attention. This is always happening. Our laws are always misogynistic. I am so sorry for the survivors. I am so, so sorry for the complainants. But I’m grateful for the opportunity for women in Canada to come together and say, ‘This is messed up and we can do better than this.’”

Nneka MacGregor, co-founder and executive director of the Women’s Centre for Social Justice

“Cases like this will always have this type of result because, honestly, the system is so broken. It’s a wonder women come forward, knowing what we know of how they’re going to be treated. So I’m disappointed, but I knew it was gong to happen. But I’m also hoping that women are not defeated by this. I want survivors to stand in their courage like these complainants did and come forward. And not be intimidated and not be broken by the system. Come forward and disclose. Tell. Every time. Anytime it happens, I want women to come forward, because there are people who believe them. We believe them.”

Lenore Lukasik-Foss, chair of the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres

“This was not a surprising verdict. What is surprising is the judge’s thorough discrediting of the complainants. The tenor and tone of the way the judge was so thoroughly explaining why they were not credible was very concerning for me, because they seemed to rely on stereotypes about survivors and misinformation about how people respond. (These are) the tropes of the jilted ex-girlfriend and the fame-seeking liar. Those are very common knee-jerk rape myths. I believe in fair process. I believe there needs to be rigorous defence. It’s just, to me, this court process highlights the inherent flaws in dealing with sexual violence, that this system is not capable of dealing with this.”