This morning, Jian Ghomeshi was found not guilty on all charges — four counts of sexual assault and one count of overcoming resistance by choking. This verdict, unfortunately, is not particularly surprising.…
Tag: sexual assault
In the week leading up to Christmas, I had a lot of festive-type things on my to-do list. Purchasing gifts, finally putting up the tree, and preparing to go away to visit…
Predictably, the Jian Ghomeshi sexual assault trial has focused far more on what the victims did “wrong” than on the perpetrator’s behaviour. Story after story in the media paints a picture of…
Shock and outrage over the mass sexual assault in Cologne, Germany on New Year’s Eve has captivated the world through an outpouring of media coverage and debate. German women held protests, furious…
You’ve had your chance, bepenised ones. And you’ve blown it. What you’ve proven, time and time again, is that you cannot be trusted to behave yourselves after dark. In Germany, about 1000…
The Ottawa Police Service’s recently announced decision to charge the man who allegedly raped, strangled, punched, and spat upon Mélodie Morin on the University of Ottawa campus last fall may reassure the…
MMA fighter, “War Machine” (born Jonathan Koppenhaver), is in court facing 34 charges, including sexual assault and attempted murder, in relation to his abuse of ex-girlfriend, Christy Mack. Last year, the self-described…
Hello press, shut up and #listentosexworkers! #sexwork — Fem4SexWorkersRights (@SupportSWRights) August 17, 2015 When it comes to decriminalizing pimps and johns, we are constantly told to “listen to sex workers.” But are…
At age 52, Andrea Dworkin was drugged and raped in Paris. She published a partial account in New Statesman in 2000, but it wasn’t until after her death (of natural causes) that…
In what has shown itself to be a fairly controversial move, British Labour Party leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn has proposed women-only carriages on trains in the UK. How utterly regressive! some have…
I was so upset after reading Jason Cherkis’ powerful story on the Runaways, the girl-band that made women like Lita Ford and Joan Jett into rock legends, I surprised even myself. You…
“Marry me or I’ll make your rape video public.” This threat was sent to an Australian University student by an abusive ex-boyfriend. Unfortunately, her story is not unique. In an increasing number…
In October 2014, independent journalist Jesse Brown with the assistance of the Toronto Star published anonymous allegations that CBC star radio host Jian Ghomeshi had physically and sexually assaulted three women. Within a…
The cases of Jian Ghomeshi and, most-recently, the Cindy Gladue murder case, have forced us to interrogate what “consent” really means, particularly with regard to sexual assault. We’ve had to take a…