#MeToo founder Tarana Burke breathed a sigh of relief as all of us did following Harvey Weinstein’s guilty verdict.
Like most of us, pondered whether the lingering stench of white supremacy would cloud the judgments of those who were asked to seal his fate. Another injustice. More victims of sexual abuse and rape cast aside.
However, justice did prevail — and the disgraced Hollywood executive, now a convicted rapist, was sentenced 23 years in prison.
“I wasn’t disappointed in the sense that I thought that that was going to happen,” she told Good Morning America. “I knew, going in, when you look at the charges, the time that had passed and all these different circumstances, I knew it was going to be difficult.”
The #MeToo movement has quickly become both a battle station and the battle cry for survivors of abuse, and Burke says she hopes to “take advantage of this moment while people are paying attention.”
More than 100 women accused Weinstein of misconduct, but only two made it to trial. Of the five charges he faced, he was only convicted of two.
Judge James Burke sentenced him to 20 years in prison for criminal sexual act and three years in prison for rape.
And it’s still not over.
Weinstein also faces felony charges of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint in Los Angeles.
Burke explained very simply why so many women felt so personally invested in this high profile case.
“So many women reached out to me through social media, email and other ways to say this verdict felt like a personal victory for them because they won’t ever see their day in court, because they’ll never face their perpetrator,” Burke said. “Those are people that we can’t forget.”
