― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
"It is good to know that this event didn't happen. We all must remain vigilant in the fight against hate, racism, bigotry, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia to make sure our city remains an inclusive place."
'This bogus attack never happened but it could have, so let this be a lesson to you, you bunch of latent racists.'
What was startling about the entire situation was not so much that the story was false, but that so many prominent people accepted it without question, facts, or evidence, and seemed almost eager to do so. "This isn't who Canada is," they intoned, all the while showing plainly that that's exactly who they thought Canada was.
Of course, courts will not always get it right: judges and juries are flawed and fallible as are the people who appear before them. Some who are innocent will be convicted, while others who are guilty will go free. But in an imperfect world filled with imperfect people, the best, most equitable system is one in which well-intentioned individuals consider all available evidence and draw conclusions based on that, rather than on personal prejudices and preconceived notions.
Moreover, to declare that all women are angels while all men are devils does a disservice to both groups because women cannot possibly live up to that standard while men, knowing themselves already judged, may consider that they have little reason not to live down to the one set for them. The fact is, most women tell the truth about sexual assault, but some lie (or are mistaken). Most men don't assault or rape women, but some do; the vast majority of good men are not responsible for the actions of the few evil ones, any more than women who report being assaulted should be assumed to be lying just because a few of them are. Every case must be considered individually, on its own merits; justice will not always be done, but this is the only way to ensure that it is in the majority of situations.
I am a woman and I have a mother, sisters, and nieces. The last thing in the world that I want is for men who abuse women to go free and unpunished. But I also have a father, brothers, and nephews and it sickens me that there are some who seem to believe that, because they are male, they are incipient criminals just waiting for an opportunity to assault women. This is a vile and wicked untruth, one which must be refuted strenuously.