Opinion: Don’t blame Harvey Weinstein’s alleged victims for staying silent for so long

To the editor: Jonah Goldberg is right to call out those who knew of the “open secret” regarding Harvey Weinstein’s behavior toward women but did not say anything publicly. He’s right about Hollywood’s hypocritical indignation after the fact. (“Why Harvey Weinstein was fired (Hint: Exposure mattered more than the allegations),” Opinion, Oct. 9)

Yet he intimates that Hollywood is the worst offender in this category, minimizing the silence on sexual harassment in the corporate and political arenas (again, until the perps are “outed”). Oh, yes, he does mention the Fox News scandals. But here, he casually slips in the notion that liberals have a “worse rap sheet” than the “tribalized right.” (He puts President Trump on his short list, a man at the highest level of government.)

Fine. He’s expressing a right-leaning opinion, so no surprise there.

But why did Goldberg end by blaming the victims? He wrote: “Many stayed silent for decades happily pocketing money from people they were willing to denounce only after it was safe — or profitable — to do so.”

Goldberg really does not know why the victims reacted how they did. Remember the old aphorism of what happens when you “assume.”

Mary Lucero, West Hills

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To the editor: This must be the biggest secret that everyone knew. Now that Weinstein has been fired from his production company, the stars are coming out and making sexual misconduct allegations against him.

It is easy to bring these incidences out in the open now, when he is no longer a power player in Hollywood. Since these people knew about his inappropriate behavior, what kept them silent for so long? Ah, yes — they did not want to lose any film jobs.

Yet those without any power were allegedly assaulted by this man while prior victims stayed quiet. The significant negative impacts on the survivors of sexual assault can include the relational, neurobiological, psychosocial, medical, vocational and educational realms . In fact, those with complex post-traumatic stress disorder may have a foreshortened life span.

History shows that when we are silent, other people suffer.

Ellen Faulk, Santa Monica

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To the editor: I applaud Goldberg for calling out Hollywood’s hypocrisy. But I take issue with his final assertion that those who kept silent while profiting from their relationship with Weinstein sends the most dangerous message to children.

Bad as that is, a far worse message was sent by 63 million voters who, even after the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape, elected Donald Trump president of the United States. That was a powerful, public acceptance of misogyny that will reverberate for decades to come.

Michael Hynes, Northridge

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