Sexual harrassment

[sptrawler]

That was a truly horrifying story. Left the Judge almost without words.

One point to make clearly that was in one of the articles I read about the case. It was the courage of the wife to make the charge and then allow her name and his name to be publicised. She made it clear that while her case was abhorrent she also wanted to encourage any similar victims to step forward and not be shamed into silence. I hope she doesn't cope the sort of disrespect and disbelief that is sometimes levelled in this situation.

The good thing is, these days people are a lot more confident coming forward, 50 years ago there was absolutely no where for women to turn.
They were in most cases, completely dependent on their husbands and many husbands took advantage of that situation.

 

[noirua]

 

[noirua]

After 30 years of " no one saying, no one asking" the worst kept secret of Hollywood final blew up. Harvey Weinsten was accused of being a serial sexual harrasser of women and finally the message was heard.

The fallout has been dramatic for Harvey and his company. He is now a pariah. His wife has left him. He faces multiple legal charges and hundreds perhaps thousands of women are telling or repeating their stories of his sexual aggression.

On the bigger stage however thousands of other women (and men) coming forth with their experiences of harrassment as children, students, employees and just people on the street.

So what could happen as an outcome of this widespread revolt against unwanted assault ? What could change ?

What does sexual harrassment under Harvey Weisten sound like ? How would you feel ?
A Reporter at Large
October 23, 2017 Issue
From Aggressive Overtures to Sexual Assault: Harvey Weinstein’s Accusers Tell Their Stories
Multiple women share harrowing accounts of sexual assault and harassment by the film executive.

By Ronan Farrow

Check story for link to audio tape of Harvey hitting on a young actress
.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news...harvey-weinsteins-accusers-tell-their-stories

 

[wayneL]

And in one fell swoop, destroyed the proper meaning of the word for a whole generation.

 

[basilio]

Another one for the books.
This creature drugged, raped and filmed (at least) 13 women . It eventually came to light when one women summoned the courage to report the rape.
Took six weeks to find him guilty
He still denies everything.
Perhaps he is a Sovereign Citizen who doesn't believe he is bound by the law ?

Former WA Police officer Adrian Trevor Moore jailed for 30 years for drugging, abusing women​

By Joanna Menagh
Posted 5h ago5 hours ago, updated 4h ago4 hours ago

Adrian Moore (right) committed his crimes over 12 years and was a police officer for 11 of them.(ABC News: Joanna Menagh)
Share this article

A "misogynistic", "depraved" and "sadistic" former police officer has received a record 30-year jail term in Western Australia for drugging, sexually assaulting and recording 13 women over more than a decade.

Key points:​

• Adrian Trevor Moore kept recordings and photos of him assaulting women
• He had abject disregard for his victims as human beings, the judge said
• Moore's barrister told reporters he had been instructed to lodge an appeal

'Depraved' former WA Police officer receives 30-year jail term for drugging and sexually assaulting 13 women

Described by the judge as "sadistic", Adrian Trevor Moore met his victims through dating websites and is believed to have stupefied them by spiking their drinks before repeatedly sexually assaulting them when they were incapable of consenting.

www.abc.net.au

Jury hears disturbing claims in trial of former police officer accused of drugging, raping women

A jury is told a former WA police officer accused of sexually assaulting more than a dozen women had a "preference for BDSM" as his trial gets underway. WARNING: This story contains graphic content that some readers may find disturbing.

www.abc.net.au

 

[basilio]

We probably didn't see this story in the media. The judge passed away in 2020. I suspect that this case would not have seen the light of day 15 years ago. Interestingly enough the Judge was surprised and amazed that the women were upset with his attention.

Women who were sexually harassed by former Victorian judge receive settlement​

Lawyer Josh Bornstein confirms two women’s cases resolved after review found they experienced harassment and discrimination

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Maurice Blackburn principal lawyer Josh Bornstein said the conduct of judge Peter Vickery had a profound impact on the two women. Photograph: Damien Meyer/AFP/Getty Images

Nino Bucci
Tue 20 Dec 2022 14.33 AEDTLast modified on Tue 20 Dec 2022 14.34 AEDT


Two women who were sexually harassed by a former Victorian supreme court judge while serving as associates have received a legal settlement, their lawyer has confirmed.
The women made the claims against judge Peter Vickery in 2020, leading to an independent investigation by the supreme court, which upheld the allegations. Vickery, who denied the claims, died earlier this year.

The women’s lawyer, Maurice Blackburn principal Josh Bornstein, said the conduct of the judge had a profound impact on both women, who were starting their legal careers at the time of the harassment. One of them no longer works as a lawyer.
“In addition to deploying sexualised poetry and unwelcome sexual advances, Mr Vickery also put his hand between the thighs of one of the women and on another occasion kissed her on the lips,” Bornstein said.
“It was a gross abuse of power by one of our state’s most senior judges against two young women who were just starting out on their legal careers.
“The women are to be commended for their courage and tenacity in pursuing this matter against powerful individuals and institutions.”

Women who were sexually harassed by former Victorian judge receive settlement

Lawyer Josh Bornstein confirms two women’s cases resolved after review found they experienced harassment and discrimination

www.theguardian.com

Former Victorian Supreme Court judge Peter Vickery names himself as subject of sexual harassment investigation

The Chief Justice of the Victorian Supreme Court has described the behaviour of the former judge towards two female associates as "reprehensible".

www.abc.net.au

Mr Vickery released a statement on his website in which he apologised to the victims "for any distress unknowingly caused".

"I never for a second believed that anything I did may have hurt two of them," he wrote.

"I accept that I should have been more alert to this possibility. Had I possessed sufficient awareness, without hesitation I would have altered my behaviour.

 

[basilio]

A number of threads to this story.

A young woman has been found guilty of fabricating rape charges against a number of men in Barrow UK.
It is a horrific story with many peoples lives destroyed.

Eleanor Williams: The grooming gang lies that sparked outrage​

• • Published
• • 5 hours ago

Image caption,
Eleanor Williams was found guilty of perverting the course of justice
By Phil McCann
BBC News

Eleanor Williams said she was the victim of a grooming gang and had been raped multiple times, sparking outrage and protests in her home town. But as she is convicted of multiple counts of perverting the course of justice for inventing the whole story, the BBC looks at the impact her lies had.

The horrific story Eleanor Williams told on social media quickly went viral.

The then 19-year-old claimed she had been passed around for sex "for years" across the North of England by an Asian gang who drugged her, beat her, blackmailed her and threatened her with weapons.

It captivated her home town of Barrow, Cumbria, heaped pressure on the police, led to abuse for local journalists and excited the far right.
Now, a jury has decided her tales of being trafficked abroad and the photos of her injuries were all lies.
The bruises that hundreds of thousands saw in her Facebook photos were real, but they were caused by Williams' own hand after she attacked herself with a hammer.

Months before she posted her lies, she had been relating an even more elaborate story to the police, claiming a string of innocent men were rapists, sex traffickers and armed murderers.

Eleanor Williams: The grooming gang lies that sparked outrage

Eleanor Williams said she was the victim of a grooming gang and many in her home town believed her.

www.bbc.com

 

[basilio]

This is just one of the stories of youths/men whose lives were destroyed by Eleanor Williams.
One of the disturbing elements is it seemed to take the police a long time to establish he simply couldn't have raped Ms Williams..

I went downhill’: man falsely accused of rape on becoming a hate figure​

Jordan Trengove at home in Ulverston, Cumbria, as he awaited the verdict on the trial of Eleanor Williams. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian
Jordan Trengove faced trial after being accused by Eleanor Williams after a night out in 2019

• Woman who lied about grooming gang guilty of perverting course of justice

Helen Pidd North of England editor
Wed 4 Jan 2023 06.36 AEDTLast modified on Wed 4 Jan 2023 07.20 AED


When 18-year-old Jordan Trengove agreed to go on a night out with Eleanor Williams in 2019 he had no idea that accepting her invitation would not just land him in jail but make him the enemy of a global anti-grooming movement with its own line of merchandise.

The teenagers and some friends went drinking in Barrow on 9 March 2019 and as far as Trengove can remember, Williams disappeared halfway through the night. He didn’t pay much attention because he was distracted by another girl, Ebony, that evening.

Ebony ended up with him in the back of a police van after officers spotted him arguing at a taxi rank in the early hours. “They said: you’re drunk, let’s take you home,” remembers Trengove. The duo were dropped off at a friend’s house and ended up having sex on the sofa, according to Ebony when she was called to give evidence at Williams’s trial more than three years later.

‘I went downhill’: man falsely accused of rape on becoming a hate figure

Jordan Trengove faced trial after being accused by Eleanor Williams after a night out in 2019

www.theguardian.com

 

[basilio]

This trial is dominating French media. It is quite horrific. They fact that most of the 80- plus men who raped the unconscious woman were neighbours in her small town makes it so much more personal.

‘Not all men, but a lot of them’: will Gisèle Pelicot rape trial finally change France’s attitude to sexual abuse?​

The horrifying details of the case that shook the country, and the local mayor’s reaction, show a refusal to confront abuse

Kim Willsher in Paris
Sat 21 Sep 2024 10.40 EDT


As the horror of how Dominique Pelicot drugged his wife, Gisèle, and allowed at least 83 men to rape her continued to unfold in a French courtroom last week, it was hard to see how the case “could have been worse” as one local official suggested.

Louis Bonnet, mayor of Mazan, the southern French town of 6,000 people where the Pelicots and a number of the alleged rapists lived, who added that “no one was killed”, later apologised and admitted his words were not “entirely appropriate”.

For French feminists and women’s activists, however, Bonnet’s ill-judged comments encapsulated how France has failed to respond to the #MeToo movement and is “abysmally” lagging behind in addressing sexual abuse socially and legally.

‘Not all men, but a lot of them’: will Gisèle Pelicot rape trial finally change France’s attitude to sexual abuse?

The horrifying details of the case that shook the country, and the local mayor’s reaction, show a refusal to confront abuse

www.theguardian.com

 

[SirRumpole]

This trial is dominating French media. It is quite horrific. They fact that most of the 80- plus men who raped the unconscious woman were neighbours in her small town makes it so much more personal.

‘Not all men, but a lot of them’: will Gisèle Pelicot rape trial finally change France’s attitude to sexual abuse?​

The horrifying details of the case that shook the country, and the local mayor’s reaction, show a refusal to confront abuse

Kim Willsher in Paris
Sat 21 Sep 2024 10.40 EDT


As the horror of how Dominique Pelicot drugged his wife, Gisèle, and allowed at least 83 men to rape her continued to unfold in a French courtroom last week, it was hard to see how the case “could have been worse” as one local official suggested.

Louis Bonnet, mayor of Mazan, the southern French town of 6,000 people where the Pelicots and a number of the alleged rapists lived, who added that “no one was killed”, later apologised and admitted his words were not “entirely appropriate”.

For French feminists and women’s activists, however, Bonnet’s ill-judged comments encapsulated how France has failed to respond to the #MeToo movement and is “abysmally” lagging behind in addressing sexual abuse socially and legally.

‘Not all men, but a lot of them’: will Gisèle Pelicot rape trial finally change France’s attitude to sexual abuse?

The horrifying details of the case that shook the country, and the local mayor’s reaction, show a refusal to confront abuse

www.theguardian.com

Well, the question is, is it the tip of an iceberg or an isolated case?

But it shows what can go on in small communities when people keep quiet.

Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[basilio]

This story just came up on The Guardian. It is fact a very old story about the long term abuse of staff by Mohamad Al Fayed who bought Harrods in the 1980's. I think one of the most revolting aspects is the number of people involved in assisting and protecting Al Fayed over decades. This was a very open secret with scores of complicit partners.

When should people speak up ? Should there be consequences for these enablers ? Or is it just too hard to stand up to powerful, socopathic, narcissists who decide they will do exactly what they want and everyone will bow to their wishes?

‘Remorseless, ruthless, racist’: my battle to expose Mohamed Al Fayed​

As UK editor of Vanity Fair, from the 1990s I amassed appalling testimonies about the Harrods owner of sex abuse, racism and spying on staff

Henry Porter
Sun 22 Sep 2024 02.00 EDT


A BBC documentary into the sexual predation of Mohamed Al Fayed, owner of Harrods from 1985 to 2010, found more than 20 women who testified to abuse by Fayed and five who were raped by him. Since the programme was aired last Thursday, lawyers representing the victims have said there are probably many more out there.

That seems highly likely. As the former UK editor of Vanity Fair responsible for defending a libel case brought by Fayed in the mid-90s, I know of three who couldn’t be included in the documentary and the anecdotal evidence from that period suggested that Fayed treated Harrods as a mini fiefdom where he had the right over any female employee he spotted on CCTV or met walking the floors of the department store. His abuse and the fear he instilled were open secrets.

That says much about the power he wielded as the Harrods boss, about the period in the UK before the #MeToo awakening, and the teams of publicists, lawyers, security guards, HR bosses and even doctors who smoothed his way and cleaned up after him, allowing the assaults and rapes to continue well into this century. Fayed did not prey upon and terrorise more than 20 young women without a lot of support.

He never suffered the consequences of his crimes, the scale of which is mapped by the BBC film Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods and puts him on a level with Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein. While they ended up in jail, Fayed died peacefully, aged 94, in London last year, untroubled by the law or any remorse, his fortune still intact

‘Remorseless, ruthless, racist’: my battle to expose Mohamed Al Fayed

As UK editor of Vanity Fair, from the 1990s I amassed appalling testimonies about the Harrods owner of sex abuse, racism and spying on staff

www.theguardian.com