Opinion: Not all voices are heard equally
By Kristin Grant
The Time’s Up and #metoo movement have drawn a lot of attention to sexual harassment and assault and brought it to the forefront. It is a great movement, but not without its problems. While it is inclusive of everyone speaking out, not all voices are heard equally.
It is good to see victims being believed as silence is being broken. I just wish the accused were being tried in a court of law, not one of public opinion. Once allegations surface consequences for the accused have been swift. It all started with the fall of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein this autumn, and then came an ever-growing list of the accused.
It hasn’t just been women coming forward either When actor Anthony Rapp made accusations against fellow actor Kevin Spacey for an incident that happened decades ago Spacey was eventually fired from his show House of Cards. In addition to that his scenes in the film All the Money in the World was re-shot with Canadian legend Christopher Plummer, garnering him a lot of awards nominations for the part.
This isn’t just a Hollywood thing; we are seeing repercussions here in Canada as well. Artistic director Albert Schultz of Toronto’s Soulpepper Theatre resigned because of allegations. B.C. band Hedley have been dropped by their manager. Politicians aren’t immune either; Conservative MP Patrick Brown is a prime example. There have been many interesting twists and turns with his story. After initially saying he won’t resign as PC leader, then doing so mere hours later, and now with the evidence against him proven to be false he has put his hat back in the ring for his old job back
One of the problems in all the examples I’ve just mentioned is they are mostly high-profile people coming forward or being accused. What about the everyday person? Where is their justice? What is the point of this movement if it is only for the upper echelons of society?
What about those who were abused in residential schools? Where are the consequences for their abusers? Where is their movement and trendy hashtag? Who is making political statements by wearing black dresses to fancy awards events in protest?
The atrocities that happened to innocent children forcibly removed from their families by the government is a sad part of Canadian history that should not be overlooked or forgotten. Canada has tried to look like it is doing its part; paying out residential school survivors, and in 2008 a Truth and Reconciliation Committee was established to look into what happened.
The TRC findings estimates there were approximately 150,000 students in these schools. Of those 70,000 survivors still living, there have been almost 38,000 sexual assault claims. That is over 50% of survivors, and 25% or one in four children of overall students were abused. Those are just the ones we know about One of the saddest aspects is that there will mostly likely never be consequences for those who committed those crimes, their lives go on or continued as if nothing ever happened, while their victims have to live with it day after day.
Time’s up indeed! With the momentum from this movement now is the time to expand focus not just to the everyday person but to the First Nations community as well. A good place to start is to have those prominent in our communities who have experienced it to speak out. Let’s continue to seek justice for those who committed crimes against our children. #silentnomore