Dr Ciara Kelly’s revelation of an ‘Irish Weinstein’ raises an important question

The Harvey Weinstein scandal has had massive ramifications for the entertainment industry worldwide.

The power of the #MeToo hashtag resulted in millions of women sharing their stories of rape and abuse causing the topic to be widely discussed in the media. Locally, speculation has been rife as to if we have any such sexual predators in Ireland. However aside from asking "are there 'Weinsteins' in Ireland?", and 'who are they?' we also need to question 'who is covering for them?' Like there were people around Harvey Weinstein who knew about him preying on women, there are people who know who the sexual predators are in Ireland and who are staying silent. We cannot rely on, nor ask victims to share their darkest most traumatic experiences to enlighten us and we almost certainly can't rely on the sexual predators to 'out' themselves, so it is to the bystanders we must look to. The ones that look the other way, the ones that feel a little uneasy, the ones who have heard and seen things that make them uncomfortable. In primary schools around Ireland, these people are referred to as 'Active Bystanders'. They are bystanders as they are outside of the action taking part. They are "active" because they take action to support the victim and bring the perpetrator to justice. To give an example, a child may witness another child being called cruel names. The bystander child may feel too scared to confront the bully directly but they know what has happened is wrong so they comfort the bullied child. The active bystander child reports the abuse to a higher authority (a teacher or parent). The situation is then out of their hands. They have witnessed abuse, done all they can to make things better for the victim and to stop it happening again. It is the bystanders who know about the sexual predators in positions of power in Ireland and the safety of possible future victims is in their hands. Newstalk broadcaster Ciara Kelly recently shared a thread using the hashtag #IrishWeinstein

"A woman I don't know approached me recently about a prominent man in the Irish media "He raped me 40 yrs ago. I can still smell him on me" she said visibly distressed. I don't know this man well - Iv met him twice though both times in a group setting... #IrishWeinstein" 

Ciara went on to recount stories women had told her about this man, that he beat his wife and had raped women. Her final tweet asked victims to reach out to her and the fact she shared her own experience of this man and asked victims to get in touch is an example of an active bystander.

"If you think you know who I'm talking about ... & if you have been affected please contact me & let's try to right this ...#ibelieveyou #irishweinstein "

It is especially important as Ciara has a national platform, and is a media celebrity. That she is utilising her fame to highlight sexual abusers within her industry is to be lauded, it remains to be seen how many of her colleagues will follow her lead. This week 7 of the top Irish Theatres issued a statement in which they denounced the abuse of power and sexual harassment within the theatre world. The theatres stated that:

"We are committed to working together to raise awareness and to create a safe culture and environment where unacceptable behavior can be addressed and challenged. We are committed to supporting those who speak out, and to listen closely and carefully when they do."

This sounds like a declaration of creating a culture of active bystanders, which if that is the case is to be applauded. We're all familiar with the saying "talk is cheap" however and the Theatres have been given an opportunity to walk the walk perhaps sooner than they expected. The same day the theatres released their statement Irish Director Grace Dyas shared a personal account of having experienced misogyny and sexually inappropriate comments by a former Artistic Director of the Gate Theatre.

"He said 'Have you lost weight?' I said 'Yeah, I lost weight for my wedding. I just got married'. He said 'You’ve lost so much weight, I’d almost have sex with you. I was taken aback, but not surprised. I said 'You can’t say that to me!' He replied 'What! I didn’t say I would f**k you. You haven’t lost that much weight'.

Many have taken to Twitter to support Dyas with some saying that they were aware that the accused man had harassed other women. Dyas says she wanted to make a complaint about the man but was advised not to, for fear that a complaint would affect her career.

 "I wanted to complain to his board. I wanted to write an article... But more senior arts professionals told me not to, they warned me, he could ruin your life." "We live in a society set up to privilege men. We as a nation don’t trust women. I am a woman and he is a man. He has friends in high places, I have friends in low places. This is the world we live in, there is no safe way for me to do this. You might say this story is a “he said, she said.” Well, over thirty people heard what “he said”."

We are all one of those "thirty people", inappropriate comments and touches happen day in and day out in Ireland and will continue to do so until we, the "thirty people" become active bystanders. We all have a "Weinstein" in our life, some of us have more than one. The cost of our silence about these men is victims being harassed, stalked, assaulted, abused and sometimes even raped. If kids can be brave enough to support victims and speak out then so should the rest of us. Anything else is colluding with abusers and enabling the continued harassment of their victims.