The codification of the universal declarations of human rights
(UDHR) became imperative prior to its writing in 1948 when humanity suffered
some of the worst cases of mass killings and wars that led to the wanton
killings of millions of members of the human race through the deployment by men
of weapons of mass destruction. The first and second World wars perhaps
occasioned the evolution of the universal principles of human rights.
The advent of these global human rights' instruments and several
other affiliate international laws have revolutionized the way we approach the
issues of human rights and human developments.
The bringing into being of the Universal Declarations of Human
Rights (UDHR) can also be linked to the widespread practices of racial
segregations in some societies and even the alienation of women from
participation in electoral activities in their countries.
The outcomes of global wide campaigns against racism, and the
marginalization of the female gender led to political freedoms of diverse
dimensions just as these new found freedoms have now opened a new frontier
globally.
The latest frontier is the ongoing global wide conversations
around the issue of sexual rights of minorities and women especially in the
work places. With the exception of much of Africa including the largest black
nation in the World which is Nigeria, celebrities from around the World and
especially in the Western Societies are battling the different dimensions of
accusations by ladies bordering on the sensitive and emotive thematic issue of
sexual violations. In Britain for instance, a prominent official and
parliamentarian was forced to resign due to proven case of sexual violation of
a lady who brought up allegations. The United States of America is in the news
constantly over many cases of sexual violations of women. Top rated musicians
and movie makers have been named and shamed. But other commentators have blamed
racism for the overwhelming volumes of allegations directed at hitherto iconic black
celebrities by ladies who alleged that they were sexually violated ad children.
This line of argument is shallow because even the most powerful Catholic
clerics in USA and Australia who are both Whites have also been convicted of
sex offences of kids.
The emerging realization and clamour for respect for the
sanctity of respect for the sexual rights of all gender has even led to a
formation of a group of global wide advocacy movement known as Me Too Movement.
Me Too History & Vision: The
‘me too.’ movement was founded in 2016 to help survivors of sexual violence,
particularly Black women and girls, and other young women of color from low
wealth communities, find pathways to healing. Our vision from the beginning was
to address both the dearth in resources for survivors of sexual violence and to
build a community of advocates, driven by survivors, who will be at the
forefront of creating solutions to interrupt sexual violence in their
communities.
In less than six months, because of the viral #metoo hashtag, a
vital conversation about sexual violence has been thrust into the national
dialogue. What started as local grassroots work has expanded to reach a global
community of survivors from all walks of life and helped to de-stigmatize the
act of surviving by highlighting the breadth and impact of a sexual violence
worldwide.
From the website of Me too movement we are told that their work
continues to focus on helping those who need it to find entry points for
individual healing and galvanizing a broad base of survivors to disrupt the
systems that allow for the global proliferation of sexual violence.
Their goal is also to reframe and expand the global conversation
around sexual violence to speak to the needs of a broader spectrum of
survivors. Young people, queer, trans, and disabled folks, Black women and
girls, and all communities of color. We want perpetrators to be held
accountable and we want strategies implemented to sustain long term, systemic
change.
The me too movement started in earnest when some big celebrities
were implicated and accused by a retinue of ladies of sexually molesting or
violating their human dignity. These celebrities are mostly based in the United
States of America and they cut across all races, classes and status. They
include:
R-KELLY
Prosecutors alleged Kelly sexually abused one woman and three
underage girls in separate attacks over a span of a dozen years.
Prosecutors said Kelly's 24-year-old hairdresser came to braid
his hair on Chicago’s Near North Side in 2003, but instead he greeted her with
his pants down and tried to force oral sex on her.
When she resisted, Kelly ejaculated on her and spit in her face
several times, prosecutors alleged.
DNA recovered from the alleged victim's shirt matches Kelly,
prosecutors said.
Prosecutors alleged Kelly also sexually abused one underage girl
who had sought his autograph while attending his 2008 trial in Chicago on child
pornography charges.
The girl had sex with Kelly multiple times between May 2009 and
January 2010, according to prosecutors. At times, he spit on her, slapped her
in the face and choked her, they alleged.
She saved a shirt from one encounter and gave it to police in
suburban Olympia Fields, where Kelly had a residence. Preliminary testing results
show a DNA match to Kelly, prosecutors said.
Kelly met another victim as she celebrated her 16th birthday at
a restaurant, Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer Gonzalez said in court. The
singer’s associate gave her Kelly's business card, but her mother intervened.
However, the girl took the card from her mother's purse, contacted the singer
and began having regular sexual contact with him, prosecutors alleged.
Prosecutors also have a videotape purportedly showing Kelly
having sex with yet another girl, who was 14 at the time. High-profile attorney
Michael Avenatti has said he recovered the tape and turned it over to
prosecutors last month.
In ordering that bond be set at $250,000 for each of the four
separate indictments, Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke Jr. called the allegations
against Kelly “disturbing” and barred him from contact with the alleged victims
or any witnesses in the case.
He also banned the singer from contact with anyone younger than
18.
Kelly's attorney, Steven Greenberg, sought a lower bond, telling
the judge that Kelly's finances were in disarray, his record label had dumped
him and that he posed no threat to flee.
"He's lived here his whole life," Greenberg said
before making a reference to Kelly's hit "I Believe I Can Fly."
"Contrary to the song, he doesn't like to fly," he
said. "He doesn't travel unless he absolutely has to."
Greenberg called the $1 million bond “exceedingly reasonable”
and said he believed that Kelly could raise the necessary 10 percent — $100,000
— to win his release. It was uncertain if that might happen as soon as this
weekend
“He’s trying to get it together,” Greenberg said. “... He
doesn’t have it sitting in the bank, sitting in a shoe box, sitting anywhere.”
As of 9 p.m. Saturday, the deadline to post bond, Kelly was
still in custody at the Cook County Jail.
Kelly, 52, who has been dogged by accusations of sexually
predatory behavior for years, was indicted Friday on a combined 10 counts of
aggravated criminal sexual abuse for alleged misconduct between 1998 and 2010.
He turned himself in at the Central District station just after
8 p.m. Friday, emerging from a dark cargo van with tinted windows into a scrum
of photographers and reporters. He was handcuffed and led into a lockup with a
concerned look on his face.
The counts each carry a maximum seven years in prison upon
conviction but could also result in probation.
During Saturday’s 17-minute hearing, Kelly stood facing the judge
in a black hoodie with his arms behind his back, frowning at times as he kept
his eyes downcast.
He shook his head several times in disagreement as prosecutors
detailed their evidence, but he otherwise showed little emotion. At one point
he leaned over to whisper something to his lawyer, who patted Kelly on the
shoulder.
Several relatives of the alleged victims stood in the courtroom
throughout the hearing.
Kelly’s appearance at the Leighton Criminal Court Building comes
more than a decade after his acquittal on child pornography charges following a
sensational 2008 trial at the same courthouse.
Three of the new indictments allege Kelly sexually abused three
underage victims. The fourth indictment charged that Kelly sexually abused an
adult in February 2003 – while he was free on bond on the then-pending child
pornography charges.
The singer, whose legal name is Robert S. Kelly, has repeatedly
denied any wrongdoing.
Kelly is scheduled to return to the courthouse Monday so a judge
can be assigned to oversee his case and he can plead not guilty to the 10
counts.
Harvey Weinstein
Weinstein, now 65, is being taken to court to face accusations
of sexual harassment toward women that worked with his company. These
accusations go back for decades
While there are some that believe these allegations are false
since it has taken twenty years for them to come to light, the women in
question are telling quite a different tale and explaining it simply as a man
in a ridiculously powerful position using his role to suppress their
claims.
A-list actresses like Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan are prominent
in this case.
While Ashley Judd has come forward to put her remarks against
the producer “on the record,” Rose McGowan has been fairly silent, only
tweeting support from her personal account every so often.
Though McGowan hasn’t come forward and publicly made claims, the
Times uncovered the fact that Weinstein paid her $100,000 after something
“happened” between her and Weinstein in a hotel room. At the time, McGowan was
only 23 years old.
Ashley Judd, on the other hand, said that years ago Weinstein
invited her to the Peninsula hotel for a “meeting.” While there, she was
directed to his room where he “appeared in a bathrobe and asked if he could
give her a massage or [if] she could watch him shower.” She left as quickly as
possible.
According to Judd, “Women have been talking about Harvey amongst
ourselves for a long time, and it’s simply beyond time to have the conversation
publicly.”
Weinstein has allegedly paid out settlements to at least eight
women since 1990.
In the same report released by the Times, some of the
accusations by these women included “sexual harassment and unwanted physical
contact.” These allegations come from many women—assistants, colleagues, models—and
each of them was paid small sums of what was likely “hush” money to keep their
silence, anywhere from $80,000 to about $150,000 apiece.
One of the women, Lauren O’Connor, even wrote a memo regarding
the harassment to executives at his company in 2015. Nothing was done.
Known sexual harassment victims’ lawyer Lisa Bloom is his
attorney.
He is being represented, quite shockingly, by Lisa Bloom—a
litigator famous for her representation of sexual harassment victims and
oppressed women. This news came as a surprise to many, including Bloom’s own
mother, attorney Gloria Allred. Allred, a prominent feminist attorney known for
her work as a victims’ rights advocate who is well known for representing many
of Bill Cosby’s accusers, said that she would not have chosen to work for
Weinstein in light of his charges.
Something important to note, however, is that Weinstein recently
optioned the rights to Bloom’s book about Trayvon Martin, Suspicion Nation, in
March of 2017. Many people believe that this is the reason that the woman most
famous for representing people like Blac Chyna, Mischa Barton, and even many of
the women from the Bill O’Reilly harassment case chose to represent a man who
clearly has a significant history with sexually harassing women. After Bill O’Reilly
was fired in April, Bloom had famously tweeted, “When women speak our truth the
old order shatters. We slayed the dragon.”
Michael Jackson
In the documentary Leaving Neverland, Two men accuse Michael
Jackson of molesting them when they were children.
Wade Robson and James Safechuck are not the first to accuse
Jackson. The singer paid out about $25 million in a settlement with the family
of one accuser in 1994 and was tried and acquitted on separate charges of
sexual abuse in 2005. In total, Jackson has now been publicly accused of
abusing five boys.
Jackson maintained his innocence until his death in 2009, and
his estate has continued to fight the allegations, announcing recently that it
was suing HBO for $100 million over charges the documentary had violated a
non-disparagement agreement. The lawsuit called the documentary a “posthumous
character assassination” and “a one-sided hit piece,” and Jackson’s family said
the attacks on Jackson amount to a “public lynching.”
Here are the details about allegations against Jackson.
Jason Francia, who was 24 at the time of the trial, testified
that Jackson had molested him on several occasions while tickling him.
Francia's mother was employed by Jackson as a maid. Francia said that
"every time I was being tickled there was some sort of exchange of
money", with the understanding that he would not tell his mother
Jordan Chandler, the alleged victim in the 1993 child abuse
allegations, left the country rather than appear as a witness
Gavin Arvizo was 15 when he testified. He claimed that, after
Living with Michael Jackson aired, Jackson had begun serving him and his
younger brother wine and making sexual advances. He said that Jackson had
masturbated him to ejaculation after they drank alcohol, and then told him that
if men do not masturbate, they "might rape a girl
Gavin's younger brother, Star, told the court that he had twice
seen Jackson molest Gavin. He also said that Jackson had displayed his erection
and masturbated in front of them, telling them that "everyone did it"
and encouraging them to try it. Star testified that Jackson had given the boys
alcohol, sometimes in soda cans, and which Jackson called "Jesus
juice". Star also said Jackson had showed the brothers internet
pornography on his computer. The Guardian described Star as a "hapless
witness for the prosecution, forgetting crucial details that he had revealed to
the grand jury, even when prompted by the prosecution.
The question we need to ask is why the African Continent is so
silent about these vital issues even when the continent is a notorious hub of
sexual violations of women and kids? Why are there no movements strong enough
to evolve a continental wide conversations so the sexual rights of African
women are comprehensively highlighted and the predators named, shamed and
prosecuted. In Nigeria there is a clear legal framework of human rights
litigation. There is also the Administration of criminal justice Act of 2015
which has abridged time within which cases can be done. Sadly, Nigerian laws on
sexual offences are archaic and are in urgent need of reforms. This must be
done. Nigeria must not continue to pretend that her girls are not being
sexually abused by men holding influential positions both in the public and
private sectors. We need to embrace civilization.
*Emmanuel Onwubiko heads Human Rights Writers Association of
Nigeria (HURIWA) and blogs @ www.huriwanigeria.com; www.huriwa.blogspot.com; www.emmanuelonwubiko.com; www.thenigerianinsidernews.com.
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