8/13/2019 Estelle Cooch: Rennard and the culture of sexism

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Rennard and the culture of sexism

Estelle Cooch writes on the Rennard scandal and its lessons

The Liberal Democrat party inquiry into allegations of sexual harassment against Lord Christopher Rennard

and how it ended have been headline news for a week The inquiry found there was credible evidence of

!behaviour which violated the personal space and autonomy of the complainants" #ut nevertheless$ it could

not be established beyond reasonable doubt that Rennard had !intended to act in an indecent or sexually

inappropriate way"

%f course$ &ick Clegg faces leadership crises every other week #ut many commentators are billing this as his

gravest crisis so far Let's recap how the scandal unfolded and then ask what it means for socialists

Two women first raised complaints of inappropriate behaviour in ())* long before the scandal broke in

public They spoke to +aul #urstow ,+$ then the party's chief whip Clegg was challenged about this in

-ebruary ()./ 0e said Rennard had !denied any wrongdoing" and that consequently he could take no further

action 1n independent report has since concluded that Clegg should have ordered an inquiry at that point

2very institution involved in what unfolded proved totally incapable of dealing with the claims adequately 1

police investigation started in 1pril ()./ only to conclude there was !insufficient evidence" This !insufficient

evidence" included testimony from five women who agreed to waive their anonymity entirely$ along anothersix coming forwards otherwise 1 very public spat ensued Rennard was finally suspended from the Lib Dems

for .3 weeks$ a penalty for refusing to apologise for !inadvertent distress" to the women involved

No surprises

4ocialists can draw several conclusions from all this The first is that nothing here should surprise us This is the

latest in a long list of establishment scandals that have broken in recent years5 Dominique 4trauss67ahn

8charges dropped9$ :immy 4avile 8died before allegations surfaced9 Consider also recent allegations against

Dave Lee Travis$ the former ##C Radio %ne D: whose trial is ongoing ;n all these cases those at the top attempt

to harass or coerce women They largely get away with it

8/13/2019 Estelle Cooch: Rennard and the culture of sexism

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This is the case for allegations against !non6famous" men The difficulties multiply for women making claims

against more powerful figures

The Lolita effect

The third conclusion we can draw is this The pervasive infantilisation of women in our culture named !theLolita effect" by,eenakshi @igi Durhamin her excellent book helps consolidate the idea that men are

manipulated by women with sexual or political motives 1ny attempt to present Rennard as the victim here

relies on that idea ;t is what we are told to accept as reality

The reporting of the case reflects this The ;ndependent ran with a full page picture of Rennard headlined !;'m

the victim" 2lsewhere it writes of Rennard making !a clumsy teenage pass" The women$ many of whom are

now well into their /)s$ are all described as !young female activists"

This is the climate where Rennard's allies have been able to peddle the idea he is a victim of !political

conspiracy" %ne peer claimed5 !0alf of all male members of the 0ouse of Lords have pinched a woman's

bottom at some time in their lives" The peer later apologised #ut many have defended Rennard is with talk

about keeping things in proportion

@uardian assistant editor ,ichael >tx,d

http://clas.uiowa.edu/sjmc/people/meenakshi-gigi-durhamhttp://clas.uiowa.edu/sjmc/people/meenakshi-gigi-durhamhttp://glosswatch.com/2014/01/21/not-caring-isnt-caring-more-lord-rennard-michael-white-and-feminist-priorities/http://glosswatch.com/2014/01/21/not-caring-isnt-caring-more-lord-rennard-michael-white-and-feminist-priorities/http://glosswatch.com/2014/01/21/not-caring-isnt-caring-more-lord-rennard-michael-white-and-feminist-priorities/http://revolutionarysocialism.tumblr.com/http://tmblr.co/ZYElar155txMdhttp://clas.uiowa.edu/sjmc/people/meenakshi-gigi-durhamhttp://glosswatch.com/2014/01/21/not-caring-isnt-caring-more-lord-rennard-michael-white-and-feminist-priorities/http://revolutionarysocialism.tumblr.com/http://tmblr.co/ZYElar155txMd