Harvey Weinstein's well-documented sexual abuses of young women in Hollywood formed the start of the #MeToo movement in 2017. Survivors used all their courage to share their stories of how the powerful former Hollywood film producer had spent years manipulating, grooming, and coercing women into vulnerable situations, and then sexually attacking them.
When
he was convicted in the states of New York and California for his high-profile sexual assaults and rapes,
it felt like an important moment of justice.Now, however,
the highest appeals court in New York has just overturned his 2020 conviction in a 4-3 ruling, criticizing the judge in the original case. Luckily due to his California conviction, Weinstein won't be free to rejoin the public and begin assaulting women again for another 16 years. But it's still something we cannot let him get away with.
That's why we're calling on the Manhattan District Attorney (DA) to retry Weinstein! The DA is the last person who can try to hold this sexual predator and monster accountable. He must do everything he can to protect the public from this well-known serial rapist and abuser!As one of the dissenting justices in the appeals case said, this overturned conviction represents a "disturbing trend of overturning juries' guilty verdicts in cases involving sexual violence," which "allows predators to escape accountability."
She's absolutely right. Back in 2021, the highest court in Pennsylvania overturned the conviction of Bill Cosby regarding his years of sexually abusing women. It's shameful that New York is the latest state to join this disgraceful bandwagon.
Survivors of sexual violence know how difficult it is to get authorities to even listen or pay attention to their cases, often feeling dismissed or ignored. To finally have a serial abuser held responsible for his horrific actions was an important step towards shifting how U.S. officials approach and treat sexual abuse cases.
And for some of that justice to now be undone? It's unthinkable.We can't keep letting abusers win! Their victims and survivors deserve peace of mind from knowing heinous individuals like Harvey Weinstein can never hurt anyone again.
Our last hope right now lies with the Manhattan District Attorney. Only this office can decide whether or not to pursue a retrial of Harvey Weinstein. We must not let the progress from the #MeToo era slip away! Sign the petition to demand that the Manhattan DA retry Harvey Weinstein and ensure he is held accountable for his years of sexual violence!