Last month, former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was on trial in New York for various charges of sexual misconduct. During the trial, six women testified against him, and Weinstein was found guilty of two charges: criminal sexual assault in the first degree and rape in the third degree. He was acquitted of three other charges. Weinstein faces a possible sentence of 5-29 years in prison.
Accusations against Weinstein helped popularize the #MeToo movement, where women speak out about sexual misconduct and harassment. The fact that Weinstein was charged on two counts is a landmark ruling for the #MeToo movement and for future sexual assault cases. Though he was acquitted on three other more serious charges, the fact that he was found guilty of two charges is still progress from years of when women were silenced and weren’t believed.
#MeToo showed thousands of women they were not alone and gave a platform for them to share their experiences. Since the movement’s gain in popularity, a type of anti-#MeToo culture has emerged as a result. Many people like to take an instance about women’s suffering because of men and somehow twist it into an instance where men are the ones suffering, and people against #MeToo are no different. From what I’ve experienced, many of those against the movement say that it has made them fear for the men in their lives, fear that they will be falsely accused of sexual misconduct, such as rape, and their lives will be ruined as a result, as if accusing a man is something many women do for fun.
This is a ridiculous argument to make. First, false rape accusations are very uncommon, and those that do occur almost always get thrown out before punishment or arrest occur. According to the Minnesota Law Review, only 2-8% of reported rapes are false accusations. In a detailed study performed by the British Home Office in the 2000’s, it was found that only six arrests were made from false rape accusations, and only two got to the point of bringing charges before they were proven false. False accusations are rare, and it’s even rarer that the accused gets wrongly punished.
Also, if a man is truly respectful toward women, then chances are he’s never going to get accused of sexual misconduct, and if he ever did, odds are that it will quickly be proven false. If someone does the right thing, then they have nothing to fear; that’s the bottom line. Those who continue to argue against #MeToo for that reasoning care more about men retaining their comfort and power than they do about women’s safety and well-being.
The Weinstein case is monumental in the process of achieving justice for victims of sexual assault, and I hope in the future that people will focus more on believing and helping victims and less on creating an anti-culture that protects potential attackers over potential victims.
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