A woman-- I should have noted who she was but I didn't-- appeared on the CBC recently to respond to the fact that Jian Ghomeshi was found not guilty of the charges of sexual assault against two women.
This was a trial. A judge was chosen who was a friend of neither the prosecution nor the defendent. The prosecution presented evidence. The defense presented evidence. They argued before a judge. The judge weighed the evidence and found Ghomeshi innocent.
This woman, on CBC radio, insisted that the justice system needs to change. Because it was unfair that the judge ruled against the women. It was, in fact, unfair that the women were even questioned about their allegations. It was unfair that Ghomeshi had the opportunity to defend himself. It was unfair that the women should be disbelieved just because they lied.
And they did lie. Indisputably, they lied, to the police, to the Crown Attorney, and to the Judge. Ghomeshi's lawyers merely provided the court with the documents that the Crown did not even know existed, and there it was: clear, undeniable evidence that these women had juiced their stories. They had lied.
So when this feminist activist on the CBC demands that the court system handle such allegations differently, what she is essentially arguing for is a court in which women may lie with impunity and men are never believed.
I wonder if she has done more damage to the feminist cause then one could ever imagine all the Jian Ghomeshis and Anthony Weiners and Bill Cosbys of the world have ever done.
[2020-02-26] With the recent conviction of Harvey Weinstein, the CBC (Radio) had a couple of "experts" on to discuss the verdict. One thing that was brought up was the Jian Ghomeshi case-- why was the result different?
I knew that none of the personalities on this program were going to admit that, in the Ghomeshi case, the women lied. Instead, they dodged the issue and mutter some vague alusions to "different facts".
No-- the women in the case against Jian Ghomeshi lied, to the police, and crown, and judge. And that's why they lost that case.