#MeToo brought into focus those who held power in society and misused it to sexually harass and emotionally coerce others into sexual contact. As much as this issue has stormed through industries, only men have been shocked by the frequency with which it occurs. Women knew this. We have been warned by our mothers and grandmothers about this nearly everyday of our young lives. Every dress was assessed for its risk factor. Every job was considered with an eye to who and where and were there other women there. Every career choice was looked at as to whether or not there was the potential that women would be forced into compromising situations. While some were demanding that prostitutes be stopped, they turned a blind eye to what was right in front of them everyday: people with power forcing others to participate in sexual acts against their will.
What is most shocking is the extent to which that power was exerted on victims and how our social constructs were created to maintain that status quo and the ability to silence those who were hurt and/or banish those who refused to be quiet. It is laying bare the social apparatuses that have protected offenders, endowed with power over the lives of their victims, from the exalted heights of the Movie Industry to the highest offices within Ivory Towers right down to those who position themselves to help victims of trauma and the Grassroots Organizations that fight for the sexual assault victim but instead, out of fear, anxiety disbelief or whatever, end up harboring an offender.
Power is power. It can be used to empower others or it can be used to enslave. Therapists who engage their clients in sexual contact are abusing their power and authority. Every professional organization in Canada is clear that no therapist, psychiatrist, or psychologist can engage in a sexual relationship with a client without it being a sexual assault. There is no grey area. Here we begin to recognize again what those dealing with sexual assualts have always known. Not all rape occurs with physical force or GHB. The imbalance of power removes ideas of mutually consenting adults replacing it with conversations about emotional coercion where the client may not realize, as it is happening, the extent to which they are being harmed.
#ExploitationInTherapy #MentalHealthConsumer #sexual assault #MeToo #TimesUp #CriminalCode
What is most shocking is the extent to which that power was exerted on victims and how our social constructs were created to maintain that status quo and the ability to silence those who were hurt and/or banish those who refused to be quiet. It is laying bare the social apparatuses that have protected offenders, endowed with power over the lives of their victims, from the exalted heights of the Movie Industry to the highest offices within Ivory Towers right down to those who position themselves to help victims of trauma and the Grassroots Organizations that fight for the sexual assault victim but instead, out of fear, anxiety disbelief or whatever, end up harboring an offender.
Power is power. It can be used to empower others or it can be used to enslave. Therapists who engage their clients in sexual contact are abusing their power and authority. Every professional organization in Canada is clear that no therapist, psychiatrist, or psychologist can engage in a sexual relationship with a client without it being a sexual assault. There is no grey area. Here we begin to recognize again what those dealing with sexual assualts have always known. Not all rape occurs with physical force or GHB. The imbalance of power removes ideas of mutually consenting adults replacing it with conversations about emotional coercion where the client may not realize, as it is happening, the extent to which they are being harmed.
#ExploitationInTherapy #MentalHealthConsumer #sexual assault #MeToo #TimesUp #CriminalCode
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