By Manasi Nene
As far as the news goes, nearly 60 women have stepped forward to testify against Bill Cosby’s sexual assault and misconduct, but he is only fighting three counts of aggravated assault. Only two women, Andrea Constand and a woman who goes by ‘Kacey’, will actually be testifying against him in court.
And then, on June 15, the trial was declared a mistrial, after two jurors refused to call him guilty. This means that Cosby isn’t going to be facing any punishment anytime soon. Sure, this doesn’t mean that the entire jury thought he was innocent – but even one juror’s idea of reasonable doubt is enough to let someone walk free.
And now, the most bizarro piece of news. Cosby is going to lead a series of town-hall meetings, to teach young men and women about sexual violence – specifically, “the threat of being accused of inappropriate behaviour”.
That’s right. He isn’t teaching them about consent, or about sex and relationships and assault. Instead, he’s teaching them about the threat of being accused of sexual assault. A representative of Cosby, Bill Wyatt, said “This issue can affect any young person, especially young athletes, of today, and they need to know what they’re facing when they’re hanging out and partying, when they’re doing certain things they shouldn’t be doing. And it also affects married men.”
Sure, yes. Totes. Superb. Applause, please, and applause again. Athletes and married men are affected by this, not women. Pray, tell us more. So nobody on the team appears to be talking about consent, alcohol and drugs. They’re talking about how to avoid charges of assault, instead of how to avoid assault itself.
Ebonee Benson, a spokeswoman for Cosby’s wife, says, “Laws are changing, the statute of limitations for victims of sexual assault are being extended, so this is why people need to be educated on… a brush against the shoulder. Anything at this point can be considered sexual assault. It’s a good thing to be educated about the laws.” Sure, it’s a good thing, but does it have to be Cosby who’s doing the educating? Or is it because he’s now an expert on how to avoid sexual assault? Must be the latter.