Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
As Johnny Depp's defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard stretches into its fifth week, experts say public reaction to Heard's testimony sends a perilous reminder that despite the 'MeToo' movement, the credibility of alleged victims of abuse can be fragile.
Alyssa Bach, associate lawyer at Shulman & Partners LLP in Toronto, explained in a telephone interview to CTVNews.ca on Tuesday that the defamation trial highlights the power imbalances in abusive relationships.
Characteristics of power imbalances include financial disparities, a large age difference, signs of manipulation and violent behaviour, and changes in temperament – all factors that have been reported in Depp and Heard's marriage, as per the trial.
People in allegedly abusive relationships can face greater public scrutiny, Bach said, especially if both parties are well-known.
"What we're seeing when we look at Johnny Depp and Amber Heard is that instead of just having, say, a judge and a jury, you now have this whole public perception that's looking at it and saying, 'Well, this is how I think and … therefore this is the person who I am choosing to believe,' but there's so many complexities that come into play that really not everybody's going to understand," Bach said.
Depp is suing Heard in Virginia's Fairfax County Circuit Court over a December 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as "a public figure representing domestic abuse." His lawyers say he was defamed by the article even though it never mentioned his name.
Heard took the stand last week and is currently being cross-examined by lawyers for Depp. She testified about her marriage to Depp, detailing years of alleged physical and sexual abuse in graphic detail. Yet the sentiment on social media in response is that she's lying, despite false allegations of domestic violence being extremely rare.
Having the trial livestreamed nearly every weekday for more than a month has let the public critically assess not only Depp and Heard and their respective claims, Bach says, but alleged abuse victims in general and their credibility.
"When we're looking at it from an evidentiary perspective, the court's relying on what somebody can prove, and given that this family violence and domestic violence often happens in private, this can be very difficult, and it can complicate the ability for victims of abuse to put forward their case," Bach said.
Bach said a judge may consider 911 calls, written statements or testimonies, photos of injuries, audio recordings, hospitals and medical records in alleged cases of abuse. However, all of that may still not be enough.
"One of the other aspects is credibility, which can be even more muddy because people who've experienced abuse, they're all going to deal with it and process it in their own way," she said.
Bach says the reaction to Heard's testimony online amplifies the concerns of alleged victims when debating whether to take claims of abuse to court, even though the average person's trial would not be on live video display.
"Even if they're not going to be in such a public forum, knowing that there's this kind of high burden on them and this harsh scrutiny on what they're trying to put forward, it's really highlighting the difficulties that people can go through in raising these claims in any format," she said.
However, Bach said it is important to remember that despite the public scrutiny, the verdict ultimately comes down to a judge or jury, depending on the trial and its location. Juries in civil law cases in Canada are rare
"It's ultimately one judge who's looking at it and they're assessing what evidence has been able to be put forward, the credibility during examination at a trial and really making sure that it's meeting kind of the burden of proof," she said. "It doesn't necessarily mean that things did or didn't happen."
A recent survey from the Canadian Women's Foundation (CWF) found that 32 per cent of abuse survivors in Canada felt they would be judged, blamed or shamed if they spoke out, while 27 per cent felt they wouldn't be believed and 18 per cent felt they wouldn't be given the help they needed.
According to the organization, partner violence and sexual violence are among the "most harmful and underreported crimes" because survivors typically face scrutiny when they speak out, which is one of the reasons they may not feel safe to do so.
Andrea Gunraj, vice president of public engagement at the CWF, told CTVNews.ca this is a "serious problem."
"Blaming women, girls, and gender-diverse people for the abuse they face… is a mainstream cultural narrative that has trended for a long time," Gunraj said in an emailed statement on Tuesday.
Gunraj noted these "blaming narratives are even more visible and influential" due to social media.
"Being so visible in public to so many people, famous people can face a lot of public blaming, disbelief and abusive reactions when they say they were abused. Abusers who are famous can at the same time be excused for their behaviour because they’re admired on screen," she explained.
Gunraj called such behaviour "unacceptable" and said everyone who discloses alleged abuse deserves to be heard and treated with respect. However, she said that is not happening with the Depp defamation trial.
Gunraj said the "vitriolic reactions" on social media to Heard's testimony and her treatment "may very well discourage survivors from speaking out in their own lives." She says this is dangerous as it can prevent those who have been allegedly abused from getting the help they need and leave them feeling like "they have to suffer alone in silence."
"Conditions that make it difficult for people to come forward and be believed, that put them under fire for not being 'the right kind of victim,' are the same conditions that enable a culture of silencing, blame and belittling to flourish," Gunraj said.
A marriage counselor who worked with Heard and Depp in 2015 testified last month at the start of the trial that they engaged in "mutual abuse," appearing to place blame on both parties. Gunraj said this term can be "very misleading" as it obscures the gendered power dynamics in allegedly abusive relationships.
While she acknowledged that anyone can experience abuse in a relationship, data shows that certain people are at higher risk.
"In Canada, women, girls, and gender-diverse people face high levels of abuse in romantic relationships, and that's directly tied to the gender injustices they deal with at large," Gunraj said.
Regardless of how the case concludes, Gunraj said she hopes Depp's defamation trial against Heard shows "how much work we have to do to better support people who speak out and take seriously the need to prevent abuse in the first place."
She added that she worries not doing so would be a step back in protecting women against abusive relationships and sexual violence, and for the entire #MeToo movement.
Gunraj said those expressing sentiment on social media labelling Heard as a liar need to "turn the spotlight" on themselves if the blame survivors historically face is to change. She says the public should respond to alleged reports of abuse with "care and support, rather than stigma, silencing and judgement."
"Those who have faced abuse have already done so much to say #MeToo. They have put themselves on the line in the millions and it’s about time for us around them to answer the call to action about what we're going to do to change this dynamic," Gunraj said.
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
The CFL suspended Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for at least nine regular-season games Tuesday following its investigation into a lawsuit filed by a former strength-and-conditioning coach against both the player and club.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.