Watershed Moments Do Happen

By now, everyone in Canada has heard about the Jian Ghomeshi abuse story.

A recent Globe and Mail article, by Denise Balkissoon, argues that the fall-out from Ghomeshi's story is leading to a false watershed moment, that in the end, victims of assault and abuse will continue to face the "I don't believe you."

Here's why I disagree with the author.

Watershed moments DO happen. There is a reason why life today is radically different today from, say, the 1900s, or even the 1990s. Incremental change is the norm, but once in a while, something big happens that changes public perception. Take gay marriage, or the legalization of pot. It takes one trigger event, and the bandwagons follow en masse.

Secondly, she asks why hasn't this happened with the Pickton murders, or the murdered and missing Aboriginal women. Why is it supposedly a watershed moment only now, with Ghomeshi - which makes the author debate the legitimacy of this social epiphany. Here's why - because Ghomeshi IS a celebrity, a generally well-regarded Canadian icon, someone people admired, welcomed into their own homes, looked up to, etc. And HE turned out to be a despicable human being, capable of horrors. That makes it real for people.

We all know that people need celebrities to project some of their ideals. That is why gossip is popular, it gives us something in common, something shared, and, usually, these people are envied. So when something happens like this and one of our admired celebrity falls down from that pedestal, it affects us personally. We aren't immune to it the same way that when someone like Pickton commits horrible crimes. We only know of him through his crimes, therefore he is a nut job who liked to kill prostitutes. And the Aboriginal women, we feel for them, but the crimes are anonymous and therefore remain, in the public consciousness, abstract.

But Ghomeshi was intimately allowed in people's homes. People suddenly realize, through this event, that it can really come from anyone, anywhere. That the wolf can hide right among the sheep.

That makes it real.

And the outpouring of personal experiences, including the one from the author, demonstrates how people are finally realizing that they should put their stories out there. If not online, to talk to police, or to seek other resources. I personally think a lot more attention in these stories should be put on showing potential victims what avenues are available to them (women's shelters, etc.).

It will always be hard to prove assault or abuse in a two-person situation. But I believe that there are many more ways to obtain support than simply through police and the justice system. Everyone dreams of justice, and I think that this discussion will empower people to be heard and believed more fully. It won't change the system, the way it works, its crawling pace and its evidence thresholds, but I believe that more women WILL be believed. And people are more ready to believe.