To be concerned that the Depp/Heard trial has put off genuine DV victims from coming forward?

[PetraBP]

The Depp/Heard trial was troubling to me.

On the one hand, people do sometimes make false allegations, especially after relationship breakups.

On the other hand, dragging someone to court for alleging domestic violence might deter some women from reporting it.

Assuming the court got it right and Depp was not a perpetrator, how could he have handled the situation so that it would not put domestic violence victims off coming forward for fear of being sued?

Worrying all round.

Maybe the trial will encourage more people to come forward . Seeing as victims do get believed.

I hope (as the mother of a ds who has been in an abusive relationship though thankfully not physical, only mental) that it will encourage more people to come forward.

Since the trial more male victims of domestic violence have started to come forward, this is a good thing, they finally have a voice. The overwhelming amount of Depp supporters are survivors of DV and not the hard-core fans that people are lead to believe.

OP only seems bothered about women coming forward though 🤔

I think this trial has shown that people CAN spot a horrible bully (despite how pretty they might be) and the victim will be believed.

I think this trial is a good thing.

Back when I was SA I was asked what I’d been wearing. That kind of bullshit will hopefully happen less often now. People will take it seriously.

It's a tough one.

Some victims may now feel they can't come forward, whereas others feel empowered.

I think it’s more disbelief at how Depp is seen as a really good person by so many people when he’s clearly done lots of bad things. The fact that Amber was called out for her shit on social media, but he wasn’t for his. Instead he is adored. A man who defended another man that drugged and raped a child being adored, shows a worrying trend in society. That may put people off reporting but I hope not.

Bottom line-on any assault case you have to have evidence of the assault. Photographs, witnesses, corroborating evidence. When anyone gets beaten up (let alone us) there is bruising, let alone people who might hear it/see it along with many other things.

Heard provided no evidence of brutal beatings by a man who was wearing rings despite being able to tape/photograph a variety of things that occurred throughout the relationship which she was claiming went on for years.

She was clearly lying/'being economical with the truth' on many other things which affected her credibility, and finally she was able to offer practically NO corroborating evidence from anyone else about the supposedly brutal beatings. Any corroborating evidence was disagreed with by other witnesses at the time, let alone photographs of her in public showing no damage.
Whilst some of the recordings of arguments that were submitted showed that she was a pretty bloody horrible person who was bullying her husband and most certainly didn't act like a scared victim.

I don't think a 'real' assault victim would have any trouble on these issues.

It's important to note that my comments on this should have a caveat that Heard's lawyers are saying other evidence to support her case was not allowed at the trial. No idea what it is.

Depp is a misogynystic man, so is his pal Paul.
I’m suprised how many women have been ’Team Depp’.
He is so clearly a horrible man.
And the first trial he was rukes as a abusive.
He is abusive man.

Depp also had a big media team to social media to do a smear campaing againts Amber.

Men have never seemed to be so interested abou DV than during this, they loved that they could go ’see women do it too’ and just show their misogynystic view openly.

None of them actually cared about DV.

But I do hope that this doesn’t scare off (even more) any woman who is trying to get help from a violent man.

It does set a worrying precedent but I don’t see it as worrying for women victims but empowering for men victims. It’s worrying for all victims. Any victim, man or woman, who publishes the sentence “I was a victim of DV” (without naming anyone as an abuser) can now be successfully sued by any family member or current/former partner who reads this and thinks it was written about them.

So yes, it will discourage victims not necessarily from talking about DV but certainly putting it in writing anywhere. Which is a gag order. A gag order that will disproportionately affect anyone in a domestic relationship with a rich and powerful person that has the means to sue them for defamation. Because such court cases cost millions, most victims won’t have to worry about being sued. This means the rich/powerful are now less likely to have any allegations voiced about them, even vague, implied allegations that do not explicitly name them.

This will only perpetuate the myth that DV is a problem of the lower classes….

I think the whole thing was a massive farce. They were a pair of toxic alcoholics and both of them were guilty of abuse. Depp is vile though and neither of them have done the cause of victims of domestic abuse any good

Hopefully it encourages more victims of Toxic Femininity to stand up for themselves. #prayforharry

I think the way it was handled was an absolute disgrace. Whether you believe AH or JD.

It never should have been televised. Both made accusations of domestic abuse so shouldn’t have had to face each other in court like that with no protections. The whole thing was an absolute shitshow and has likely set victims back years.

My only concern is of a personal nature for a couple of years now my ex has acted like I was the abuser in the relationship even going as far as blocking me during the week "so I can't harrass him" and unblocking me on contact days to see if I will "allow" him to see the children we have had social workers several times as he was arrested for abuse he admitted to being abusive in SS documents but he publicly blames me every time the social worker has found that I'm safeguarding and promoting contact not withholding he drops contact until its minimal (and pointless) but blames me for it throughout the years ive maintained my silence unless directly asked (by his friends) then I've been factual ie, why does ex only see his children 6 hours a week? I answer because that's what he asked for why does he not have them overnight? Because he says he is homeless 🙄

This verdict may give his lies legs

BTW I never call him I text him if it is anything to do with the kids and if he needs to know

Agreed.
Important to note that it was in the USA and the UK is VERY different. Sometimes I do think people forget that...

@AllAloneInThisHouse
"And the first trial he was rukes as a abusive.
He is abusive man."

Not true what was ruled was that the sun newspaper could reasonably believe AH, there was special mention of the fact that as she has donated all the money received she showed she wasn't driven by the cash. However she hasn't actually donated it at all.
This case was to prove/dispute that the piece written by AH insinuated that JD was the reason she became a face of DV and lost him work. She said on the stand that it was about JD and others.

A number of DV campaigners have already said that they're seeing this, and that women are saying that they are too frightened to speak up because they've seen how friends and family have disbelieved and mocked Heard.
As others have said, this is the backlash to #metoo that we knew was coming and it is vicious.

An accuser will only get sued for defamation if they make their claims in the public domain, like Amber did. Most victims won't do that and would go through a private process.

I hope it encourages more genuine victims, men or women, to come forward. Unfortunately AH undermined her credibility and when she said she wanted nothing, got nothing it was also just a lie, just like the charity donations.. Her divorce lawyers letter outlined what she wanted and his witness provided testimony of what she wanted and what she got.

I think more men will be encouraged to come forward if anything, so YABU.

This case has been a positive thing for the many men who are suffering or have suffered because of domestic abuse.

In UK he is said to have been proven to be a wife beater on at least a dozen occasions. Surprised that any female lawyer would want to defend a man like that.

I had friends who provided some disturbing views about how someone should act after being abused by a partner and it's fair to say I’m put off sharing my experiences and men like my ex will use it to discredit his victims

I wonder if the lies, altered photos, undermine the UK case against him

It's not worrying because the victim of the DA/DV in the trial won. The perpetrator was shown to be a liar.
A good thing surely?