Jian Ghomeshi Acquitted

[Content Note: Rape, assault, rape apologia, gaslighting, victim blaming. This post contains descriptions of assault.]

As reported by CBC, Jian Ghomeshi has been acquitted of sexual assault and of overcoming resistance by choking. And the judge's statements, as Tweeted by journalist Laura Fraser, are a stinking bag of victim-blaming bullshit:

While case law says that the judge also cannot hold post-assault conduct against the complainants, the judge says that, in this case, their behaviour seems "out of harmony" with their statements in court.

"The twists and turns of the complainants' evidence in this trial illustrates the need to be vigilant" in order not fall into the assumption "that sexual assault complainants are always truthful," the judge said.

"The extreme dedication to bringing down Ghomeshi is evidenced vividly" in the correspondence between the complainant and [actor and co-complainant Lucy] DeCoutere, the judge said. The vitriol in those 5,000 messages should make the court proceed with caution, Horkins said, as it became clear the two women were a team.

...The judge describes the witness's testimony, in which the witness tries to describe what happened to her. She struggles to say whether she was choked with one hand or two, whether Ghomeshi bit her at the time, and for exactly how long he would have had his hand -- or hands -- around her throat, revealed in the testimony the judge reads to the court in his decision.

...The judge also said that while it's normal for victims of violence to become involved with advocacy work, Horkins said the way in which she embraced this role may also have been because of the publicity it garnered her.

"I have to consider whether as a member of this team, Ms. DeCoutere felt she had invested so much in being a heroine for the cause that this may have been additional motivation to suppress any information that might in her mind, might be [accepted] negatively."

To sum: Survivors don't always lie! But unless they act like the imaginary Perfect Victim, they are lying. If they support each other, they are lying. If they are angry about their assault and say they would like to see their alleged assailant punished, they are lying. If they have imperfect memories of traumatic events that occurred some time ago, they are lying. And if they embrace advocacy, it's not because they have a platform and would like to help others, it's because they are attention hungry bitches who are most DEFINITELY lying.

Fuck. That. Shit.

I am so incredibly angry at this. Yes, it was always a long shot that justice would be done after so many years, but dammit, I so hoped there would be some legal recourse for what Ghomeshi put these women through. I offer my deep sympathy to Lucy DeCoutere, to the other complainants, and to every survivor out there who is in pain, not only because of the rulings, but because of the bigoted and sonorous misogynist assfarts that this judge has issued in place of any real legal reasoning. You are not alone, and you are not invisible. I see you, and I take up space in solidarity with you.