The acrid US defamation trial between actors
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard --
and the decision to televise it -- will have a "potentially
catastrophic" impact on abuse survivors, advocates say.
اضافة اعلان
Jurors in the six-week trial, in which the former husband and wife traded
claims and counterclaims of violent domestic abuse, sided largely with Depp
this week, ordering Heard to pay him $10.35 million for defaming him in a 2018
Washington Post editorial in which she never mentioned his name.
Judge Penney Azcarate decided weeks before the trial began to allow cameras
in the state court, fearing that if she did not, too many reporters would show
up for the high-profile case.
"I don't see any good cause not to do it," Azcarate said,
according to Variety -- a decision that Depp's lawyers welcomed and Heard's
lawyers fought.
Michele Dauber, a law professor at Stanford University and advocate against
campus sexual assault, branded it "the single worst decision for survivors
by a court in decades" that showed "a profound lack of understanding
by the judge of sexual violence."
Heard was forced "to describe her alleged rape in graphic detail on
television. That shocks the conscience and should offend every woman and
survivor regardless of whether they agree with the verdict or not," she
said.
The last time she could recall a rape survivor being forced to testify
publicly was in 1983, she said.
"There is no way to justify the judge's decision to allow cameras in
this case... There is no public interest in this case that could possibly
outweigh the harm done."
Instead, she argued, "every victim is going to think twice before
coming forward and seeking a restraining order or telling anyone about any
abuse they are experiencing after this.
"Women may be injured or even killed as a result of not seeking help.
This case has been a complete disaster. It is potentially catastrophic."
The trial riveted a global audience not used to watching sexual assault and
intimate partner allegations play out in court and that -- regardless of
opinions on the verdict -- is a problem, warned Ruth Glenn, president of the
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
"I don't think we have a society yet that understands the dynamics of
domestic violence," Glenn told AFP in an interview.
That crucial context was not discussed enough during the court proceedings
in Fairfax, Virginia, she argued, saying that for her and her colleagues there
was "no doubt" about the patterns of abuse that were displayed.
"You make sure that there are people present that understand that. And
until you do that, let's not televise this," she said.
- 'Open misogyny' -
Dauber, who has received online abuse for tweeting about the case, said it
also underscores the growing backlash against women's rights in the United
States.
Public opinion came down solidly on Depp's side, with Heard targeted by
countless online posts and memes, some of which Dauber described as "open
misogyny."
The verdict was greeted with celebration by many on the political right, she
noted -- including in tweets by Donald Trump Jr, son of the former president,
and the powerful Republican House Judiciary Committee.
Heard was "metaphorically tarred and feathered," and the verdict
"makes it clear that for now the backlash against women's rights is taking
control," she wrote, also citing fears that the US Supreme Court is set to
overturn the right to abortion.
For many the case has raised questions about the future of #MeToo, the
movement created out of the 2017 hashtag that encouraged women to speak out
about the men who had abused them.
"It's impossible not to see this as a backlash to #MeToo -- like women
have gone too far. Okay, ladies, we listened to you and locked a couple of men
up. Don't get too greedy, now," wrote one Reddit user in a blog post for
the Embedded Substack newsletter.
Tarana Burke, who founded the #MeToo movement, tweeted a defiant post
listing its achievements, calling on followers to focus on the millions now
speaking out without shame instead of ping-ponging between legal victories and
losses.
"This movement is very much ALIVE," she wrote.
But Glenn was more philosophical.
"I would say that, I don't know how much traction we had gained anyway.
So let us use this as a reminder of the work that we still have to do,"
she told AFP.
For her, the future remains uncertain.
"This is a perfect example of a case influencing a culture," she
said.
"And I don't know that we'll know tomorrow what that influence will
have been and how much impact it's had, either positively or negatively."
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