Sexual assault is a broad term that includes any sort of sexual violence, sexual actions without consent, or torture of any kind. The sexual cases against the movie hegemon Harvey Weinstein are an essential one to be explored as they triggered a significant change that started with the Me Too movement. The Kantian and Utilitarian schools of thought are helpful in determining the case against Weinstein.
Many celebrated movie stars, including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Salma Hayek, accused the famous American movie producer Harvey Weinstein, who is now convicted of sexual assault and similar heinous acts. These acts may induce terrible side effects such as self-harm, panic attacks, or may even cause unwanted pregnancies, especially if the victim is pressurized into not speaking or voicing out for help or catharsis, as was the case with Weinstein who blackmailed the actresses on multiple occasions.
Self-harm is caused by emotional pain and should not be ignored, no matter its scale. It may be challenging to break away from it as the cycle becomes addictive in some cases, and in serious ones may lead to suicide. Likewise, panic attacks are reflective of the internal disturbed state of people that may be episodic and are triggered by no real danger. They can disrupt the present state of the victim and lead to depressive thoughts. In severe cases of sexual assault, such as rape, unwanted pregnancies may take place. Abortion is a solution, but it is considered illegal in many areas. It hence can cause significant life changes for the victim, apart from the emotional trauma the event itself brings.
This case can be evaluated using the two great branches of ethics, namely Kantian and Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism argues that one should act in a way that produces the highest good for the most significant number of people. Utilitarianism judges the moral value of an action based on its outcome (or expected outcome, for a hypothetical case). So, in the case of sexual assault, the consequence of self-harm, panic attacks, or pregnancies may determine the action itself to be considered wrong.
On the other hand, Kant’s ethical theory bases all moral judgment on the nature of the action; the consequences are entirely irrelevant. The more modest and plausible of his moral theses is that it is always morally wrong to treat humanity as a mere means to achieve some desired end. To put it more simply, the rule is to respect people, and not to use them. And this includes self-respect as well as respect for others, so it’s also wrong to drug yourself into oblivion. The idea is that an action is morally acceptable if and only if it would be both feasible and acceptable for everyone to act in accordance with the same principles that motivate the original act. In the case of sexual assault, this means that the nature of the act itself comes under question, regardless of its consequences.
Based on these two theories, Weinstein’s actions can be deemed to be extremely problematic in numerous ways. They not only lead to intense social issues, but his unethical actions in themselves are heinous in their nature. This sort of behavior ought to be declared strongly punishable as it becomes unacceptable when analyzed using the above theories. Hence, both these theories help understand the criminality of the action, but the most suitable one appears to be Kantian theory here as it declares the foundation to be problematic and does not wait for the outcomes.
On the other hand, societies should encourage women and other oppressed bodies to speak up for themselves and allow more movement like Me Too to surface as they fix the gaps made by heinous villains like Harvey Weinstein to be bridged. Women empowerment ought to be recognized, and timely action should be taken against criminals who indulge in such crimes despite their influential status of personas.
Resources
https://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/13/entertainment/salma-hayek-harvey-weinstein/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/us/gwyneth-paltrow-angelina-jolie-harvey-weinstein.html
Comparison of gender roles in Romeo and Juliet and Private Romeo
