Not the crime of assault on themselves. The crimes committed on later women.
How are the victims responsible for those?
I find it astonishing that this question is being asked about his victims, who were effectively silenced by a man of immense power over them, by an industry that protected that man, by a company who did the same..
His earlier victims did speak out about it, they told people, because everyone knew what he was doing. And those who knew did absolutely nothing.
And the question being asked is whether his victims bear some responsibility because they received compensation and were forced into silence by a powerful man in a powerful industry who fully supported him, despite their knowing what he was doing?
His sexually harassing and assaulting women
was treated as a joke in the industry, something to be laughed at.. Now consider this,
this is an example of sexual harassment:
One woman described this situation: she was in a circle of colleagues at a work Christmas party, and her boss reached across the circle and grabbed her breast. The thing that she focused on the most was not that, but the fact that everyone in the circle laughed. And the impact that had on her, of realising: ‘These are my colleagues, that was their response, how could I possibly report it?’ was greater than [that of] the act itself.”
Weinstein's victims not only reported it, they tried to sue him. They were literally forced into silence by a man, an organisation and an industry that demanded their silence. All knew about what he was doing and instead of their doing something, his sexually harassing and sexually assaulting women became a joke in the industry.
I mean, I need to ask, who else were his earlier victims meant to report his sexual harassment to? The industry, studio's, actors, media who knew and did nothing about it and enabled it? The police? Sexual harassment was not a crime back then. And who would have believed these young unknown women against a Hollywood heavweight who wielded so much influence that the entire industry did nothing to try to stop his actions?
Everyone knew, everyone enabled it. And we are questioning whether his earlier victims share some responsibility because they accepted a compensation payout and were forced into silence, after which he kept abusing other women?
What about the industry who made millions, actors who made millions, off the man they knew was sexually harassing and assaulting women in his employ and those who were contracted to his company as actresses, all of whom had to sign non-disclosure agreement? What about those who knew and did what they could to try to silence journalists who tried to break this story years ago?
What about organisations like the NBC and the NYT's who essentially shelved stories about Weinstein's deviancy, and forced journalists and those who knew to remain silent years ago?
Why are the victims expected to have stopped him when they were in no position to have done so, but those who were in a position to have stopped him enabled him, protected him and made jokes out of his behaviour, n
ot to mention made billions from dealing with his company?
As the writer, feminist and human rights activist Joan Smith reminds us: “The men who do this, do it because they have the power and wealth to get away with it. They deliberately pick on women who are less powerful than themselves.” If you had a lot of professional or cultural capital yourself, it is less likely that you would be sexually harassed; when you chastise victims for not speaking out sooner, you’re asking women to suffer the double punishment of being harassed in the first place, and then having to kill the green shoots of a nascent career for some higher altruistic purpose. Practically if not explicitly, it’s not much different from saying it’s their fault.
Laura Bates, whose Everyday Sexism project did a huge amount to change the way sexual harassment is talked about, has some stark detail on this, having done a joint research project with the TUC: “When women do report sexual harassment, the outcomes are terrible. Over two-thirds of young women are experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace now, today. Eighty per cent of them felt unable to report it, but three-quarters of the ones who did said that nothing changed afterwards, and 16% said that the situation got worse.”
Prof Liz Kelly, director of the Child and Women Abuse Studies Unit at London Metropolitan University, says: “I feel really uncomfortable hearing some of the statements [saying], ‘If only women had spoken out about this earlier, they might have stopped it.’ Women did speak about it. He used his position of authority to mute their voices. It is unrealistic and inaccurate to expect this to be stopped by the people it’s happening to.”
Before we question the victims who received compensation for being victims of sexual harassment and were effectively silenced, before we question their motives for "signing non-disclosure for the money" (leaving aside the fact that these women were suing for being sexually harassed), why aren't you questioning the motives of the movie studios who were aware of it and were still willing to work with him to make billions and enable his behaviour and joked about what he did to his victims?
The actual people who were in a position to stop it refused to do so and instead, enabled him, while getting rich in the process. Instead of questioning the victims and their 'getting money for their silence' after they sued and tried to speak out to deaf ears in the industry, you should be questioning all of those who ensured he could keep doing it with their absolute support and protection.