Rethink Sexual Offences: Similarities Among Cases of Kris Wu, Harvey Weinstein and "Black Box"
When I reviewed Kris Wu's case, I recalled a book called Black Box by Shiori Ito, who is also a rape survivor. I cannot help notice the consistency of sexual allegations regardless regions, cultures and social status.
I'll Show You
Wu’s case reminds me of Shiori Ito, who is a journalist coming from New York, writer and documentary filmmaker, best known for her book Black Box (2017) based upon her own experience of rape, and the documentary Japan's Secret Shame (2018) released on BBC. Despite the reginal, cultural, and social differences, these two incidents share astonishing similarities, stemming from gender inequality and the assumption that women are a prey or a servant.
Photo from goodreads.com
I felt lonely
First, both Ito and Du are targeted by sex predators because of appearances, when Wu surveyed social media networks and Noriyuki Yamaguchi met Ito at a bar when she worked part-time as a waitress. Second, predators express superficial appreciation of the online profiles, mostly from social media sites. For example, Yamaguchi found one of the articles by Ito online (She is a journalist, and of course she has written things and published them.), and Wu browsed the Du’s selfies on her Weibo page, saying “You look so lovely and innocent in the pictures”.
Third, predators from a relatively higher social status offer opportunities to them, as the excuse for a second meeting. Wu, as a huge celebrity, promised Du a role in his music video atter knowing Du studied acting at university and hoped to be an actress, and Yamaguchi, then as a senior executive and experienced editor in Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) at New York, provided internships for Ito after he heard of Ito’s dream of being a journalist from previous conversations.
More importantly, both cases mention intoxication and suspected use of illegal drugs in closed settings. Reasons are simple, offenders can avoid camera captures in case of future allegations, commit a crime without physical struggles and fights, and made “accessible” deceptions afterwards.
Repercussions in Japan are rather mixed. Surprisingly, one female employee in the documentary states that she feels shameful for Ito sharing private issues in the public and deems Ito as a brazenfaced liar after getting the job opportunity. In other interviews and speeches, Ito says “I felt lonely” when she pinpoints serious social issues and speaks for the vulnerable, while some women disparage and attack her.
Intentions
Predators such as Wu and Yamaguchi can be a “pro” in some way because they are aware of psychological weaknesses, legal loopholes, and keep practicing the trick.
Social status and resources are used as a leverage. They know they look powerful, and inexperienced targets are less likely to question the motives when invited to private places. On the contrary, potential victims probably regard these as perfect showcasing opportunities and even feel honoured when selected by significant figures.
The supplementary tool is alcohol and drugs, which will comprise the functions of cerebral cortex in brain, so that people may be vulnerable to poor thinking, irrational decision-making, and memory loss. Let alone teenagers who have underdeveloped frontal lobes and cannot make right judgement even if sober (Schacter et al., 2011, p.103).
Meanwhile, the evidential burden is apparent. Namely, there may not be sufficient evidence for court to consider (Keane and Davidson, 2018, p.85), especially in terms of sexual offenses. For example, forensic evidence (Keane and Davidson, 2018, p.141), may be washed discarded out of victims’ shame of or memory loss, such as seminal stain on skin and underwear, which are true with Du and Ito. Besides, corroboration is less accessible because offenses happen privately without any witnesses and video records.
The worst scenario is that the competency of witnesses will be questioned if they are suffering from mental illness (Keane and Davidson, 2018, p.33), such as other victims in Wu’s case who are underage and said to be diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety.
References:
Hollingsworth , J. and Ogura, Junko 2019. Japanese woman who accused prominent journalist of raping her wins civil case. CNN. [Online]. [Accessed 3 December 2021]. Available from: https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/18/media/japan-shiori-ito-legal-intl-hnk/index.html.
Schacter, D.L., Gilbert, D.T. and Wegner, D.M. 2011. Psychology 2nd ed. New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
Pilkington, E. 2020. Harvey Weinstein convicted of rape at New York trial. The Guardian. [Online]. [Accessed 3 December 2021]. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/feb/24/harvey-weinstein-guilty-trial-charges-verdict.
Appendix：
BBC documentary: Japan's Secret Shame (2018) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b8cfcj
