NB: this article was written before judge Maria Carroccia acquitted five former junior hockey players of sexual assault on July 24.
The film, television, music, and sports industries can catapult individuals into the limelight, exploiting talent and warping individuals into commodities, on which to make a profit. With newfound stardom and the wealth and prestige that comes with it, some men use it as an extra layer of protection to carry out their sadistic acts. We are more than a month into Sean “Diddy” Combs federal sex-trafficking trial. The key witness is Diddy’s ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, who has bravely taken the stand to recount her over decade-long abusive relationship with the rapper, which included acts of violence and sexual assault.
Hockey Canada trial
Currently, the trial of five former Hockey Canada world junior players has wrapped up, with the judge’s verdict due on July 24. The five are accused of a 2018 sexual assault. You don’t have to search too hard to see the pattern of men in positions of power and wealth abusing women — Woody Allen, Harvey Weinstein, Peter Nygard, Jeffrey Epstein, Larry Nassar, and the list goes on… It must be mentioned that abuse by working-class men is prevalent as well, but they usually do not have the legal teams and bank accounts at the ready to fight allegations.
That is if the case even makes it to court. In Canada, between 2015 and 2019, 36 percent of sexual assaults that were reported to police resulted in charges, of which 61 percent proceeded to court. Once in court, 48 percent of cases linked to these incidents resulted in an accused person being found guilty, and 50 percent of these resulted in a sentence of custody. So, if 100 sexual assault reports to police are made, only 36 cases proceed to court with only about 10 accused being found guilty.
Once within court, a new battle emerges; the Crown must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the alleged offense took place. Soon a clear double standard emerges. The abuser is usually given the benefit of the doubt. During the Hockey Canada trial, defense suggested their clients’ “good character” is evidence they would not commit a sexual assault. Meanwhile, the victim’s actions were dissected. The lawyer of the only accused to take the stand, Carter Hart, asked detective Lyndsey Ryan on the stand about the “significant differences” in the victim’s initial 2018 police interview and her 2022 statement to Hockey Canada. Ryan states she attributes the change to having four years to process what had happened and understands that “acquiescence was not consent.”
System protects abusers
The tendency to rely on the assumed “good character” of the accused, alongside defamation laws, have been increasingly used in the past few years to respond to #MeToo stories. As long as the tools of the capitalist system — courts, wealth, and media — can be used to shift the narrative to favour abusers and intimidate victims of sexual violence, abuse will continue, abusers will go free, and victims are vilified.
Striking to the core of this issue, it is necessary to look directly at the capitalist structure itself that allows for such behaviour to continue. The capitalist system profits from the film, sports, and music industries. Within these industries, sexism and misogyny are rampant, whether it be via the content produced or in the culture of their operations. Capitalism does not care about the destruction it causes in the effort to make a buck, so it is the structure of capitalism itself that must be dismantled.
For socialist feminists, building a movement to end gender-based violence must be linked to the broader necessity for a movement that unites the whole working class for socialist change — the public ownership and democratic planning of wealth and resources in the interests of people, not profit. By eliminating the class divide at the heart of capitalism, a socialist alternative would provide the basis to build a society free from all oppression.
