A "clarion call" for #MeToo: what Harvey Weinstein's overturned rape conviction means for women's rights

‘Did I just read that correctly?’ It was a common sentiment among women everywhere when the news broke last week that disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein had his 2020 rape conviction overturned. A top New York court found that he had been unfairly tried for past alleged behaviour outside of the case, leaving his victims and thousands of survivors across the world feeling bewildered, disgusted and let-down.

Few will have forgotten that visceral moment in 2017 when the world changed, victims began speaking out and cases that had once been dismissed as ‘he said, she said’ were suddenly swept up as part of a global reckoning.

The solidarity that came with the fall of a man who was largely seen as Hollywood’s ultimate sex predator and the ensuing #MeToo campaign gave survivors everywhere hope, a sense of solidarity, some trust that sexual assault victims might finally be seen and taken seriously, especially young and vulnerable women of colour.

Last week’s Weinstein bombshell might not see the Hollywood producer freed — he remains in prison on a separate rape conviction in Los Angeles — but its implications have sent shock waves around the world. In their ruling, the New York judges concluded: ‘The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial,’ triggering fears for victims — both of Weinstein’s victims being re-traumatised and of victims in other cases being deterred from coming forward — but also wider fears for what this means for women’s rights.

‘A major step back,’ ‘Profoundly unjust,’ and ‘A punch to the gut’ were just some of the reactions from the producer’s accusers in the hours after the news, many saying they have been left shaking with shock and disgust at the thought of potentially having to testify again. ‘It’s like picking a scab off a wound for these women who might have to go through this all over again,’ said one of Weinstein’s accusers, ex-journalist Lauren Sivan. Fellow Weinstein accuser, the Hollywood actress Ashley Judd, agreed, calling it an act of ‘institutional betrayal’ for victims. ‘This is a hard day for survivors,’ she said.

‘It almost feels expected now, like that’s just how the system works,’ says hypnotherapist and sexual assault survivor Patience Chigodora, 31. ‘Money speaks, especially if you’re in Hollywood. That’s the saddest part: that I wasn’t surprised at all.’

For many in the legal profession, the decision was expected, in many ways. ‘If I put my strict legal hat on, I’m not surprised,’ says Deana Puccio, a former sex crimes prosecutor from New York and co-founder of The Rap Project, which holds workshops in UK schools about rape and sexual assault. She questioned the judge’s decision to consider Weinstein’s prior bad acts as part of the trial at the time. ‘If Harvey Weinstein was Joseph Smith, would those acts have come in? I don’t know,’ she says.

But as a feminist and mother of three daughters, however, Puccio is ‘mortified’. The Weinstein news is set against a backdrop of women’s rights being set backwards as in the case of Roe v Wade, and its ripple effects have spread far beyond Weinstein’s elite circle of accusers in Hollywood, mostly celebrities who had come into Weinstein’s orbit through their work in film or TV.

The so-called Weinstein effect caused a sea-change in attitudes that was reinforced when he was convicted in 2020. New movements were galvanised, such as the Everyone’s Invited campaign in British schools. ‘It felt like a seismic moment for the recent resurgence of feminism,’ remembers Natasha Walter, a feminist writer and author of Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism. ‘I remember women around me commenting on the verdict with such relief, there was this sense that things might be turning around and that finally women’s voices were going to be heard and listened to. So this overturning of the verdict really has an outsize impact on women’s ability to trust in justice, not just in Hollywood, not just in the US.’

Last week’s shock was quickly replaced with concern for the wider potential implications: that it could set a dangerous legal precedent and embolden other perpetrators to challenge their own convictions; that it could deter other assault victims from coming forward; that it only adds to a growing sense of women’s rights reversing. That the overturning happens to have fallen during Sexual Assault Awareness Month has only added to a collective sense of salt being rubbed in an already gaping wound.

This effect on victims is not to be underestimated, says Puccio. ‘A lot of [Weinstein’s] survivors were celebrities, they had money and power. How are more marginalised victims meant to feel? The cards are already stacked against them in every way, so this is just one more reason not to come forward. It’s one more reason just to say, “Why bother? Why put myself through this? Because at the end of the day, justice isn’t going to be served.”’

Survivors say they are certainly questioning whether they would now come forward if they haven’t already. For many, the Weinstein news is the latest in a series of concerning headlines about power misuse and police mistrust. ‘I’d definitely think twice, given some of the news at the moment,’ says Maisha Sumah, 25, a rape survivor and gender-based violence advocate recently elected as chair for the Violence Against Women and Girls forum for two south-west London boroughs, describing the strength it took to come forward initially.

There have been concerns raised about the effect this news will have on perpetrators, too. ‘Weinstein may have had a team of the sharpest legal minds in the US, but the length and breadth of the UK, less high-profile but no less traumatising incidents are being thrown out of the courts over technicalities. Men often manipulate the justice system, using their power and resources to obfuscate legal proceedings and discredit their victims,’ says Lisa Hilder, co-founder of Affordable Justice, a family law firm dedicated to providing accessible legal support to women ineligible for legal aid.

Hilder’s concern with high-profile cases like Weinstein’s are that they put back the work women’s charities have achieved in encouraging women to leave violent and abusive relationships and seek out a safe place. As New York appeals judge Justice Madeline Singas put it last week: ‘Men who serially sexually exploit their power over women, especially the most vulnerable groups in society, will reap the benefit of today’s decision.’

Charlotte Proudman, a London barrister and campaigner for survivors of rape, domestic abuse and controlling behaviour, believes what happened last week is further proof of something she and many others have long believed: that the justice system is skewed towards predators not victims and needs reform. ‘Whilst white rich men use the courts to appeal and re-litigate rape cases, survivors have no right to appeal. Where’s the fair trial for victims?’ Proudman says.

But that is not to say the movement has been all for nothing. Quite the opposite, in fact. Tomi-Ann Roberts, a psychology professor who alleges she was harassed by Weinstein, says she hopes the overturning of his conviction will ‘re-energise’ the #MeToo movement and Puccio agrees. The #MeToo movement was always about so much more than Weinstein and it is important to recognise the progress that’s been made in seven years: movements such as Everyone’s Invited in UK schools; more and more victims choosing to speak out; improvements to the justice system in several US states, such as getting rid of non-disclosure agreements that had previously prevented victims from speaking out.

‘The movement is so much bigger than this one case. We have to remember that,’ says Puccio. ‘The MeToo movement has a life of its own because of all the other survivors and victims who’ve had to fight for decades to get justice. I don’t want this one case to completely define us or hold us back or in any way tarnish the movement, which is so important.’

Step backwards, backlash or a reminder of how far we’ve come: most agree the news is at the very least a stark and sobering reminder of the work that remains regarding women’s rights. As Tarana Burke, the founder of #MeToo said last week, movements like #MeToo are ‘long’ and ‘strategic’ and the overturning decision is simply a ‘clarion call’ for supporters of the movement to unite.

The overturning does not deter from the work that has been done, agrees Puccio. ‘It just means there’s more work to do.’