Issue of the week: Harvey Weinstein found guilty of rape

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/feb/29/issue-of-the-week-harvey-weinstein-found-guilty-of

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Moira Donegan in the GuardianWeinstein had been untouchable, but then, because of the power brought to bear by women who refused to tolerate or ignore men’s sexual violence against women, he was finally brought to justice. The conviction is less a signal that the criminal justice system can work for victims than a signal that women’s grassroots organising can accomplish things that would never have otherwise been possible. The symbolic significance of his conviction can’t be overstated: for women, this is a very good day.

Jill Filipovic in the GuardianWomen’s rights advocates should take wins where we can get them. But history isn’t a straight line, and this verdict does not unquestionably propel us into a fairer world for sexual assault survivors. The criminal justice system will remain an imperfect venue for most cases.

What would feel like real justice for sexual assault survivors? That is the next big question for #MeToo. There is no perfect solution here. But at the very least, Weinstein’s conviction despite one of the ugliest, most misogynistic defences in recent memory suggests we’re ready to start figuring it out.

Gerard Baker in the TimesWeinstein’s lechery, bullying and entitlement was an open secret in Hollywood for decades. Yet there has been no real attempt to hold accountable those many people, in Hollywood and beyond, who aided or enabled the mogul’s deviancy, or simply looked the other way because it was inconvenient to do otherwise.

None of these, of course, is as culpable as the producer himself and perhaps few of us would have had the guts to challenge him. And it’s surely true that we live in a better world now. It’s just a shame that much of it is still run by people who did nothing to make it that way.