Guilty till proven innocent – The Politics of Sex
from Voice for Justice UK:
Once again a “sex scandal” has hit the headlines, this time with Bafta award winning actor Noel Clarke being accused of verbal abuse, bullying and sexual harassment. Strangely, that is all he seems to be accused of – not that one wishes to belittle the hurt and outrage of those who feel they have been bullied and harassed, but there appear to be no allegations of sexual misconduct beyond salacious comments, the possession of some dodgy photos, and the occasional unwanted grope or pat on the bottom. Certainly, there seem to be no allegations of coercive and unwanted sex, or grooming. Which make these current ‘MeToo’ allegations all the more remarkable, because apparently there no longer has to be what could properly be described an ‘offence’ in order for the hell hounds to be unleashed, with devastating effect.
Why does this matter, you may ask? After all, we’ve all heard stories about the film industry – and especially the scandal surrounding Harvey Weinstein, with aspiring young actresses forced to sleep with him to get a part in his next movie. Without doubt, this is disgraceful. But this is not what appears to have happened with Noel Clarke. Clearly, reading the reports, the actor’s behaviour has been less than perfect, but the impression one gets is more that of an undisciplined and randy teenager – cocky, brash… someone who thinks he’s a bit of a ‘lad’. But by no stretch of the imagination does he come across as a sexual predator, ruthlessly grooming and exploiting women to satisfy an ungovernable sexual appetite.
[…] As a society, we have failed both Noel Clarke and the women making these complaints. As already said, we should have taught them all alike, first and foremost, the values of self-respect, and that sex is a precious gift of God that binds a man and woman together in life-long and exclusive union for their mutual benefit and support, and that it should never lightly be squandered or demeaned. And we should have taught them the values of purity, fairness and justice, and to have the courage to speak out when something is wrong or of which they disapprove.
As a society, it is vital we recover the values of purity, goodness, integrity, honesty, mercy, faithfulness, self-control… and that we teach these values to our young.
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