Linda Christina Redgrave delivered a keynote speech on Oct. 18 as a part of this year’s Consent Culture Week at Carleton
Redgrave was known as ‘Witness 1’ during the Jian Ghomeshi sexual assault trial, and was one of three women that testified during the trial. Ghomeshi, a former CBC radio host, was found not guilty of four counts of sexual assault and one count of choking in May 2016.
Redgrave spoke to about 100 students in Fenn Lounge about the issues with the justice system in regards to sexual assault cases.
“The day I went to report [the assault], my life changed,” she said.
When discussing the trial, Redgrave said it can be a brutal process.
“Had I not had my lawyer to help me with the line of questioning, I wouldn’t have lasted an hour,” Redgrave said.
Redgrave said the justice system should incorporate the effect a traumatic experience can have on a person. She expressed the need for “trauma-informed law,” because it is often hard for victims to have to relive the violence during trial.
Redgrave said that people do not know how their minds will react to sexual violence and memories could be “fragmented.”
She said that during her trial, the opposing lawyer picked apart every piece of her original testimony, and left her wondering, “Why am I on trial here? I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Since it is difficult to get a conviction against the accused in sexual violence cases, many people choose to stay silent, she said.
For 11 years, Redgrave said, she was silent until she heard of other women reporting Ghomeshi to the police.
She said she still was not ready to go fully public and requested a publication ban on her name during the trial in order to remain anonymous.
Two months after the trial, she lifted the ban. Redgrave said she did this so that she could launch her website, comingforward.ca, which encourages people who have been through any type of sexual assault to share their stories in a safe space.
Redgrave said she believes that by showing her face and having a name, the website is more personal and makes it feel easier for people to connect with her.
Consent Culture Week events will be happening until Oct. 20, and were organized by the Carleton University Students’ Association Womyn’s Centre. Events include a survivors’ breakfast and a self-care day. The week also features a documentary screening of The Hunting Ground, a 2015 film about sexual assaults on university campuses.
Sydney Schneider, the programming co-ordinator at the Womyn’s Centre, said bringing Redgrave to Consent Culture Week was a way to make the week more survivor-centric.
“I would like everyone to go away with the idea that consent comes first,” said Schneider. “Sexual violence is very common and survivors are not alone, and they don’t have to be strong alone.”
