Harvey Weinstein was prosecuted for criminal charges of sexual assault and rape on Monday Feb. 24. The disgraced producer has been under investigation since 2015, when multiple women spoke out about being sexually assaulted by him. Efforts to give Weinstein the punishment he deserves have been painstakingly occurring for more than five years as government officials, juries and the public questioned whether or not they should believe the women who came forward.
Weinstein is the first “high-profile” man publicly accused of multiple accounts of sexual assault to actually be convicted, according to The New York Times. His indictment was long overdue, as there are possible cases of sexual assault dating back to the 1990s.
In an era when the #MeToo movement is flourishing, it’s unfortunate that women don’t feel safe coming forward about experiences of sexual assault. It is still extremely difficult and risky for victims to come forward, especially when their assailant is someone with a lot of wealth and power. When people such as Weinstein have powerful connections and the money to create even more, they can easily use bribery to either intimidate their victims to stay silent or to sway the court and its jurors to support their case.
Bribery and a disbelieving jury are not the only issues that prevent victims of sexual assault from coming forward. Women who have used their voices to call out their attackers are often met with hate both online and in real life. People often ask victims of sexual assault why they did not speak up earlier or why they did not call the police in an attempt to try and silence them.
The problem, in other words, is that women are not being taken seriously or, in many cases, even listened to at all.
In this case, however, the victims of Weinstein’s offenses were listened to and their cases were investigated until justice was served. Hopefully, in the future, society’s attitude toward sexual assault claims will be to believe the victims and ensure that their assailant is held accountable, regardless of the status of each person involved.