Over the past couple of months, I’ve noticed a growing number of TV shows and documentaries being released which all concern a similar topic- women who are victims of sexual assault being silenced by mainstream media outlets. The most prominent two for me are both The Reckoning- a TV drama doc compiling the life and victims of notorious sex offender Jimmy Savile- and the Dispatches expose of Russell Brand. After watching both of these shows, I kept asking myself the question- why aren’t media companies learning from their past mistakes of neglecting female victims?
In September, Channel 4’s Dispatches released an investigation into comedian Russell Brand’s treatment of women, more specifically, younger women. Watching the show, I felt a mixture of disgust and anger, as well as feeling incredibly uncomfortable listening to several women’s accounts. Just two months later, the BBC docu-drama The Reckoning aired, and I couldn’t help but notice parallels in the narratives.
Young women are traumatised by older, powerful men, to the knowledge of producers, directors, and other powerful men and instead of them being protected, listened to, and cared for they are often ignored and left to deal with their experiences on their own. Observing the persistent presence of these themes angered me- leading me to wonder why we are still letting men in the media have this much power.
It was well known by many people who worked with Russell Brand or Jimmy Saville that they were notorious for being sexual predators- yet the threat that they could have their jobs taken away from them should they speak out overrode their moral compasses. Both men knew people who could silence anyone who dared to protest- and had the charisma to charm anyone into believing they were good people- despite them both being hidden in plain sight.
How could anyone let men like this get away with such abhorrent crimes? I know that for me personally, I would sacrifice anything to make sure those poor women got the justice they deserved. I think that it boils down to the sexism that overrides the mainstream media.
Men in the media are typically given more power than they need, leading them to take advantage of this power and abuse it. The women who then work below them are subject to this abuse and often feel as though they can’t report incidents.
For example, in the Russell Brand investigation, the female victims revealed that they felt like they had no one to turn to. The one woman who did report an incident was met with intense threats from his legal team which reiterated that because of his power and status within the industry, she should refrain from taking further action.
People were aware of what these women were experiencing- but they chose to protect Brand. Despite over 100 years of fighting for women’s rights- it seems that we will never be taken seriously. An investigation is released, there is outrage, a few weeks pass and then it is swept under the rug.
To me, it seems that media outlets would rather protect themselves than stand up for women- and this is scary to me. How can we still allow men to follow the likes of Jimmy Savile years later?
The media is now facing a pivotal turning point- they can either continue to protect predators or prioritise the rights of women. I can only hope that they make the right decision.