The Weinstein scandal is currently erupting all over the media and is due, given the increasing number of complainants coming forward, to become one of the biggest sex scandals ever. The real issue for society is the link between power, behaviour and the responses by institutions and others in leadership positions.

Nothing in this scandal is new and in fact for many decades we have seen people like Weinstein and their behaviour towards vulnerable and powerless people, not just women, replicated across many societies throughout the world. If a person or child is raped, sexually abused or treated violently and there is no recourse to law and justice, then that is a recipe for chaos, which will inevitably undermine the whole fabric of society.

It will create an impervious minority elite of powerful people, treating others as mere chattels and objects.

As with previous reported scandals, Saville, Heath, Janner and Weinstein to name a few, there seemed to be a level of knowledge about the activities of those people, of varying degrees, which was known and nothing done.

So during their lifetimes when evidence is fresh, abundant and current and more easily gathered, opportunities to gather this evidence are wasted.

People are not believed when they complain because how could this pillar of society, often senior religious leaders, in the case of the Catholic Church, knighted or Lords of the Realm possibly have done these things. Alternatively, the perpetrators in the cases of Rochdale, Oxford and many other places, are themselves protected by the racial sensitivities, which may be exposed if this investigation moves forward and anyway aren’t these young children and their families putting themselves in this danger and almost asking for it?

A culture is then created which protects the rich, powerful and famous or racially sensitive to the extent that the vulnerability and powerlessness is inversely increased and renders the victims to a state of abjectivity. No-one believes or wishes to protect us, because we are not worthy of society’s protection.

Weinstein is only different in that he is still alive. The evidence is available to be gathered and justice can take its course. Will he stand trial or even be convicted? We shall just have to wait and see, because the difficulties in gathering the evidence and placing it before a court is very, very difficult. Weinstein has already started his defiance and it is a classic riposte in these cases.

“Everything that happened was consensual”

But let’s look at the historical abuse cases and how they might be investigated effectively. A person comes forward to the police. Do they deserve to be heard and their allegations taken seriously?

Yes of course they do!

It is the job of the investigators to gather evidence, balance the evidence and then submit it to the relevant decision body to decide whether to prosecute or not.

There are only three types of evidence.

Forensic, Witness and Admissions.

All evidence falls into these three categories.

In these cases there will almost certainly be a lack of forensic evidence. Very rarely do the perpetrators admit to their crimes.

All that is left is witness evidence. The memory dims with time and the trauma involved in the case of victims. So, the question is what avenues are left open to the investigators to gather evidence of what may or may not have occurred?

Therefore, asking people who have suffered similarly, to come forward, is the only way to seek a weight of victim evidence. This is often a very traumatic process for people who have suffered. The investigator/team then correlates all the witness evidence and using a chronological timeline, looks for consistency of evidence across, similarities of places, people, behaviours etc, to create a credible bank of evidence. It is not a ‘Fishing Expedition” but a methodical, time consuming and detailed, evidence gathering exercise.

What then seems to happen is that particular areas of the media and particularly the right wing press start to undermine the process and create doubt in the minds of the public. Why, one may well ask?

The establishment figures, their progeny and networks also populate the powerful areas of government, media, news outlets and institutions to such an extent, that they can influence the public mood and even the impartiality of the police service. Columnists are openly lauded for undermining police investigations about powerful figures and often letters to papers are printed to that effect. Dominic Lawson has consistently complained in his Sunday Times column about police historical investigations. The reason seems “as plain as the pikestaff on your face” as is commonly said.

To protect the power they have.

Summary.

Leadership is about being authentic, consistent but most of all about being trusted.

There is a dearth of trust nowadays for people in the establishment and some of the recent historical sex abuse cases in this country have heightened the lack of trust felt by the public. No longer is it enough to be in a position of power to automatically be held in high esteem by the public. Leaders must demonstrate leadership in all they do on a daily basis. If that means exposing their peers as sex abusers, paedophiles or criminals. So be it.