Amber Heard verdict blasted as setback for women and domestic violence survivors
Wednesday’s verdict favoring Johnny Depp in his trial against ex-wife Amber Heard is a setback for domestic violence victims that comes at an already delicate time for women’s rights.
Wednesday’s verdict favoring Johnny Depp in his trial against ex-wife Amber Heard is a setback for domestic violence victims that comes at an already delicate time for women’s rights, survivors and experts say.
As the high-profile trial dragged on for six weeks in a Virginia courtroom — centered on a 2018 Washington Post op-ed written by Heard in which she didn’t name Depp but called herself a “public figure representing domestic abuse” — it became a social media frenzy. Various media columnists said the trial represented the “death” of #MeToo, the movement that caught fire in 2017 and led to sweeping changes in various industries in which high-powered men had previously faced little to no consequences for inappropriate sexual behavior toward women.
Meanwhile, a Supreme Court draft opinion that would strike down Roe v. Wade was leaked, prompting Vice President Kamala Harris to say, “Women’s rights in America are under attack.” And Oklahoma passed the strictest abortion ban in the country.
“All of these attacks on women’s autonomy are connected,” said Nicole Bedera, a sociologist who studies sexual violence. “This is a hard moment. There is no way around it. It does feel like women are losing rights that previously felt pretty well-established.”
Actress Amber Heard, right, and her sister Whitney Heard, second left, depart the Fairfax County Courthouse on June 1, 2022 in Fairfax, Va.Rod Lamkey / Consolidated News Pictures via Getty ImagesHeard and Depp’s trial prompted intense scrutiny, with many expressing doubt online about Heard’s claims that she was abused.
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