The Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs ruling was a massive disappointment, and a reminder that the carceral system, far from delivering justice, often serves to protect wealth and power. Despite the rightful public scrutiny of Combs’s violence, he was found not guilty on charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. The jury of eight men and four women acquitted Combs for his major charges and the judge is still to decide on a 20-year maximum sentencing.
The results follow the dwindling of the #MeToo movement. It joins the list of losses for women’s rights seen in the courtroom, like Harvey Weinstein’s and Bill Cosby’s sexual assault rulings being overturned. We are also seeing a rise in attacks on women’s bodies by an administration that notoriously inflicts violence on women and marginalized communities. The ruling risks future cases being trivialized, encourages victim-blaming, and discourages victims from speaking up. It’s a continuation of the pattern of impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence among the rich and powerful.
We should remember the 2018 Green Wave movement, which won abortion rights for women in Argentina and has since inspired a wave of similar movements throughout Latin America. And in 2022, women in Iran rebelled against their brutal repression by the Islamic state, which led to massive strikes and other protests across large sectors of the population.
We must return to the streets to find justice and safety. It was the organizing of the #MeToo movement that forced progress in the legal system. Now that the movement has fizzled out, the rich and powerful are chipping away at any gains made and resuming a status quo of gender oppression. We must go beyond the limits of the courts to throw out this system of exploitation, oppression, and sexual violence. We cannot rely on legislation and government that repeatedly let victims down. We can only rely on our collective power.
