Psychiatric Expert Tells Weinstein Jury That Rape Victims’ Memories Can Become Murky Years After Assault - Variety

“Rapes are not what we spot connected TV,” Dr. Barbara Ziv told the assemblage during Harvey Weinstein’s proceedings successful Los Angeles, erstwhile she was called by the prosecution connected Tuesday to attest astir “rape myths” — successful different words, debunking common-held societal beliefs astir rape and intersexual assault.

“Most of the things radical judge are not close oregon supported by facts,” Ziv said, telling the assemblage that behaviors of rape victims are “counterintuitive.”

Ziv is simply a forensic psychiatrist and licensed doc who specializes successful each aspects of intersexual assault, assessing behaviors of some victims and perpetrators. Over the people of her decades-long aesculapian career, she has worked with much than a 1000 victims of intersexual assault, but has nary affiliation to the Weinstein lawsuit and has not worked with immoderate of the Jane Does who allege they are victims of Weinstein’s abuse.

Ziv testified arsenic an adept successful Weinstein’s archetypal transgression proceedings successful New York City successful 2020, arsenic good arsenic Bill Cosby’s 2018 intersexual battle proceedings successful Pennsylvania.

Ziv was connected the basal for hours. After her presumption to the jury, Weinstein’s defence attorney, Alan Jackson, cross-examined Ziv astatine length, focusing connected the quality betwixt the ineligible and aesculapian definitions of rape and consent.

“You testified astir rape myths … Those are wide generalizations astir conduct,” Jackson said, to which Ziv replied, “I came present to amended what the information is astir intersexual assault.”

Ziv was called connected by the prosecution arsenic an adept to bolster their case. It’s expected that aboriginal successful the trial, the defence volition besides telephone connected a doc oregon aesculapian adept to measurement successful connected representation nonaccomplishment and different issues that would contiguous the assemblage with a antithetic position than Ziv’s studies and psychiatric work.

Memory is complicated, Ziv explained to jurors, and victims of intersexual battle clasp onto memories of “central trauma” forever, but smaller details of the onslaught — specified arsenic the day, time, what their perpetrator was wearing, etc. — could beryllium mislaid implicit the years.

“If radical don’t study promptly, they accidental they don’t retrieve years later,” Ziv said. “It’s not that they’re lying … radical effort to springiness their champion … they are trying to remember.”

Ziv explained that portion constabulary sometimes usage those “memory problems” to accidental a unfortunate is not credible, that is changing arsenic the knowing of rape victims has progressed successful caller years.

As portion of her presentation, Ziv broke down “rape myths,” telling the assemblage that astir behaviors the wide nationalist would presume of rape victims are untrue, according to psychiatrists who specialize successful intersexual assault.

Rapes often hap among radical who cognize each other, contempt astir radical believing assaults are usually by strangers, Ziv said. “Most radical are raped by idiosyncratic who is known to them,” she told the jury. She explained that portion “stranger rapes” bash occur, astir intersexual assaults progressive radical who cognize each different successful immoderate capacity, dissimilar the practice commonly seen successful tv and film.

Victims of intersexual battle bash not defy their assailants, contempt astir radical believing they would combat back, the psychiatrist told jurors. “Most individuals bash not resist,” Ziv said. “Even assertive verbal shouting and screaming is not arsenic communal arsenic we whitethorn think. … This is counterintuitive. You’d deliberation if you’re being violated, you’d combat back.” She added, “The bottommost enactment is, that’s not the case.”

During cross-examination, Jackson asked Ziv if “some bash combat back.” She responded, “Some,” and past continued, “Do immoderate women combat back? Sure. The story is that it’s common.” Jackson past asked, “Some bash shriek and outcry and holler?” Ziv replied the aforesaid way, responding, “Some.”

Ziv told jurors that intersexual battle victims bash not typically study promptly, contempt astir radical believing they would spell to the constabulary if they were assaulted.

“Sexual battle is an underreported crime,” Ziv said. “Even erstwhile it is reported, it is prosecuted precise rarely.”

She explained that erstwhile victims bash study an assault, it’s often not to authorities, but possibly to a person oregon household subordinate — but ne'er saying thing astatine each is besides common. Ziv said determination is simply a “large percent [that] ne'er archer anyone successful their life.” The feeling of “shame” is simply a crushed wherefore galore victims bash not speech astir their attack, she said, but determination are galore reasons wherefore victims don’t talk up. “It’s a precise hard taxable to discuss.” The psychiatrist added, “They fearfulness the effect … intrusion into their backstage beingness … fearfulness of being categorized arsenic promiscuous oregon a liar.”

Ziv told the assemblage that the demeanor of a intersexual battle unfortunate pursuing an assault, whether it beryllium blessed oregon sad, does not bespeak whether oregon not they person been assaulted. “Behavior aft intersexual battle is variable,” she said. “You cannot archer whether an idiosyncratic has been sexually assaulted based connected the aftermath of their behavior.”

Victims of intersexual battle often person continued interaction with their perpetrator aft the attack, Ziv explained, noting that the communal content is that a unfortunate of rape would ne'er spot oregon speech to their rapist ever again. She testified that astir radical bash spot their perpetrator again, and mightiness willingly proceed to pass with them for a assortment of reasons.

“People enactment successful the aforesaid circle,” she suggested, explaining that victims whitethorn not privation peers to find retired what happened. “It is simply a truly humiliating acquisition to beryllium sexually assaulted by idiosyncratic who is known to you.”

A crushed victims of intersexual battle whitethorn talk to their perpetrator aft is due to the fact that “they privation to marque consciousness of it” oregon they privation an apology. Very often, continued interaction occurs due to the fact that victims fearfulness retaliation and “collateral damage,” Ziv said, particularly erstwhile a perpetrator is successful a presumption of power. “When a perpetrator damages different aspects of your beingness … those things impact your trajectory forever.”

Ziv besides told the assemblage that it is communal for intersexual battle victims to person consensual enactment with their attacker aboriginal on. “A batch of times radical consciousness similar they are conscionable damaged goods, and cipher other is going to privation them truthful they statesman to enactment similar damaged goods.”

Jackson challenged Ziv, asking, “Some bash debar their attacker astatine each costs?”

“Yes,” she responded.

And erstwhile helium asked, “Some bash spell to the constabulary immediately?” She responded, “Some.”