By contributor Ryan Levis
Justice was served and Median inclinations reborn; the acquittal of Jian Ghomeshi signals a new era of hopelessness for survivors of sexual violence. The evidence of how the justice system is rigged to favour rapists has never been clearer.
Either all women need special training in formulating their rape accusations, or all men need radical training in healthy relationship development. I prefer the latter. I prefer prevention.
Ghomeshi is socially ruined, but financially he will probably benefit. His retaliation lawsuits will likely succeed. Men have learned today that they are beyond reproach when it comes to sexual assault. Meanwhile, women have learned to say nothing because it’s futile, and the justice system will inevitably fail them. What a terrible outcome. Accusations of sexual violence are ruinous to men and worth avoiding, while legitimate punishment is easily dodged by the accused. Institutionalized attempts to curb toxic masculinity are poorly conceived, and far too polite to get through to their target audience. The impacts of men’s sexual behaviour have never been more scrutinized.
Now is the time for radical education about masculine sexuality and rape prevention at the source. Now is the time to address toxic masculinity in a blunt fashion before this happens all over again. To spare women the trauma, and to spare men from devastating accusations, we need all men to deeply understand the impact of sexualized violence. Prevention, coming from within male-male peer circles, is the only viable course of action. Intervention, justice, and government care will not be successful at reaching men and changing their attitudes. We must talk to men about sexualized violence in a way they understand.