British media has recently rediscovered the problem of sexual assault victims being legally gagged by nondisclosure agreements. While the practice has persistently remained in American headlines since the New York Times and the New Yorker first broke the allegations against Harvey Weinstein, The Telegraph in the United Kingdom has found themselves at the receiving end of an injunction from an anonymous businessman, preventing the paper from revealing reports of sexual and racial harassment of his staff.
Logically, the relationship between abusers issuing settlements in exchange for silence is reciprocal. But from a broader perspective, it looks disgusting. A wealthy serial abuser can simply pay to play, so to speak. It’s deeply unjust. But so long as our justice system remains broken, sex offenders will continue to get off with civil settlements and slaps on the wrist.
Stories about sex offenders like Weinstein or Brock Turner, the ex-Stanford swimmer who spent a mere three months in prison after being found guilty of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster, may seem like outliers. Mostly, though, they are outliers only insofar as both have seen the inside of a criminal courtroom.
The overwhelming majority of rapists are never reported, let alone penalized by the law in both the U.S. and the U.K. Looking at the penalties compared with the length of trials, which regularly last years, and invasiveness of defendant’s line of questioning, which shield laws often do not protect complainants from, it makes perfect sense why a victim of sexual assault wouldn’t pursue criminal justice.
In California, arguably the most progressive state in the country, those found guilty of rape served an average of 7.23 years. Criminals incarcerated for manufacturing illegal substances served a sentence pretty close to that length.
The government should not impede on consenting adults’ abilities to enter legal contracts with one another, but the justice system itself shouldn’t encourage victims who did not consent to sexual activity to settle for civil suits or worse, silence.
The U.K., which already lacks the same free press protections of the U.S., has unduly restricted The Telegraph from reporting truth to the public. American media would likely not face this speech restriction, but sexual assault victims still do. And American victims will still avoid criminal proceedings and succumb to the NDA trap so long as the justice system continues to fail them.
Given the gravely unjust sentences slapped on nonviolent criminals, especially those incarcerated for since-legalized drugs, the brunt of the nation’s criminal justice reform conversation has centered around sentencing reform and other front-end prison policies. But the victims of violent crimes who are deterred from receiving justice cannot be left out of the conversation. If the news has been any indicator, then time in this regard is of the essence.
