Senator David Coltart
Blog
15th October 2016
In December 1983 the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace instructed me to record statements from hundreds of women victims of Gukurahundi at St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral in Bulawayo. I record the event at page 151 of my book “The Struggle Continues : 50 years of tyranny in Zimbabwe “.
The following are two excerpts:
“Sitting at a table in the hall one woman after another told me how her husband, father, brother, son, uncle, grandfather, nephew had been gunned down before their very eyes..”
“Independent verification of a story gives it credence and taking scores of statements individually from women hailing from all over Matabeleland North left me in no doubt about the veracity of what they were alleging. The systematic and sustained nature of the abuse, which lasted several months and occurred in different areas hundreds of kilometres apart, removed any doubt ..(in my mind that this was true).”
In other words it was the consistency of the allegations made by many different women from different areas, at different times, that convinced me that what they were saying was true.
It is in this context that I have listened with growing incredulity to Donald Trump’s denials that he is guilty of sexual assault against the several women who have released statements this week alleging that Trump abused them. Whilst obviously sexual assault cannot be compared to genocide, both are crimes, and in both assessments have to be made regarding whether the allegations are likely to be true or not.
Trump argues that there is a conspiracy against him; that somehow the US media and the Clinton campaign have coordinated these revelations to smear his candidacy. However from what I have seen on television the allegations have been made by, so far, some 9 women spread right across America, concerning incidents going back in some instances over 30 years. Some have got their lawyers to assist them deliver their statements, and when they have done so many have been tearful and obviously deeply troubled. It appears that none of the women know each other; the have seemingly spontaneously spoken out, gaining courage from other women who have been bold enough to speak out.
Trump bare denials yesterday are to be expected – he can hardly admit to any of these allegations because his candidacy would end instantly. In other words he has no option but to deny them. Some of the reasons he has advanced however are ridiculous – the one that they are “seeking publicity” is particularly obnoxious. Why would any woman want to reveal such an embarrassing episode in their lives?
Trump and his supporters have however raised one legitimate question regarding why these women have only come forward now, a month away from the US election. It seems to me that there are two possible reasons why they have only come forward now. One is that it was in reaction to his own taped admissions that he groped women, and his subsequent denial in Sunday’s debate that he had ever actually sexually assaulted any women, when he said it was just “locker room banter”. Trump’s oldest accuser, Jennifer Lee, seems to have been the boldest and she clearly spoke out in response to Trump’s denial. The second reason seems to be the courage that other women have derived from Ms Lee’s bravery. It appears that they have kept their secret for years but have realised that they will not be ridiculed now that others have come forward to corroborate.
Some will say that I am wrong to find Trump guilty before he has been proven guilty, and I accept that no court has proved him guilty. However I have seen enough evidence, including Trump’s own statement, to convince me that Trump would have an exceptionally hard time defending himself if charged.
This is not the first time that women have waited years before they have spoken out against sexual abuse perpetrated against them. The two best examples of this concern Bill Cosby and British BBC celebrity the late Jimmy Saville. Both these men got away with their actions for decades; in Saville’s case it took his death to encourage women to come forward and speak about what was done to them. The fact is that women the world over are usually deeply ashamed and/or fearful by sexual assault perpetrated against them and keep quiet. That is reason why many rapes are left unreported, in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in the world. Many women fear that if they speak out in isolation they will be disbelieved and ridiculed. When some are brave enough to speak out the floodgates open.
That is what I saw in St Mary’s Cathedral in December 1983, albeit in entirely different circumstances. Individual women who otherwise would have ben petrified to speak out, took courage from the presence of others.
Why am I taking so much time to write about an election in another country which I will not vote in? The first reason is that in Zimbabwe we have been fighting for democracy and truth to prevail. We have pointed to democracies elsewhere in the world as good examples, and have argued that Zimbabwe needs the same. We have spoken out against our own leaders guilty of criminal conduct and said that they are not fit for office. If we keep silent about obvious flaws in other electoral processes that in turn undermines our ability to criticise our own electoral processes and political leaders.
The second reason is because of the women who have blessed my own life – my beloved late maternal grandmother Ada and mother Nora, my darling wife, my precious daughters and daughters in law, and the numerous amazing women colleagues I work with in politics and law. The thought of any of them being subjected to similar abuse is anathema. Sexual abuse is a worldwide plague – if the leader of the world’s most powerful democracy is a sexual predator how will that influence the way women are treated in the world? If men the world over don’t speak out against this type of conduct what does that say about our own attitude to women?