Power, fame and the myth of tragic flaw in sexual exploitation cases
Honorary degree recipient recording artist Julio Iglesias is recognised during Berklee College of Music's Commencement Concert in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, on May 8, 2015.
What you need to know:
- Allegations against powerful celebrities spotlight systemic sexual exploitation, highlighting the need for a multi-frontal approach.
- From global scandals to Kenyan institutions, sexual harassment persists through abuse of power, trust, vulnerability, coercion and silence.
Reuters recently reported that the Spanish High Court was conducting investigations that famous singer Julio Iglesias sexually assaulted two of his former employees, Latin American women described as “in vulnerable situations who were heavily dependent on their wages due to their economic and social conditions”.
Spain’s Equality Minister, Ana Redondo, was reported to have reacted by saying that Iglesias is “a great singer, but people can have a dark side”. These comments refer to what is referred to in literature as the tragic flaw – the pattern of great men having serious human weaknesses that nullify all they achieved. The flaw is usually in the form of misdemeanour, poor judgment or a frailty so base that people get surprised that the hero fell into the trap.
Recent history is replete with famous men who have fallen because of sexual misconduct. In 2018, actor Bill Cosby was convicted of aggravated indecent assault and jailed but was eventually released based on legal technicalities. Musician R Kelly was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking of girls and jailed for 30 years. Harvey Weinstein, Hollywood film producer, was convicted in 2020 of rape and sexual assault and sentenced to 23 years in jail. Actor Danny Masterson was convicted in 2023 of raping two women 23 years earlier and sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment.
Weinstein’s is perhaps the more famous case because it re-ignited the MeToo movement, which originated in 2017, and has seen droves of women publicly reveal their experiences of sexual abuse by powerful men. This movement can be regarded as one of the major drivers of the concept of safeguarding, defined as deliberate measures taken to recognise, prevent and respond to risks of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.
In Kenya, it is an open secret that “celebrities” perpetrate these vices but have somehow kept away from legal trouble, with the cases largely remaining in the grapevine. Reports from athletics highlight cases of women sexually exploited by powerful gatekeepers of the industry. Perhaps the most public case in sports was that of the two rugby players accused of gang rape, jailed for 15 years but later released for a retrial to be carried out.
In the past few weeks, there have been reports of sexual harassment of interns by both male and female lawyers. It would be imagined that by virtue of their profession, lawyers should be at the forefront of safeguarding. That they ignore the Law Society of Kenya policy against sexual harassment tells a lot. Going by the public reactions to the revelations, it is apparent that the vice is the rule rather than the exception in the sector. This points to the fact that it is a culture, a pattern built over the years and silently accepted as part of the system. The case of the female lawyers harassing male interns also illustrates that the vice is not exclusively perpetrated by men as is often assumed.
Read: Sex and power: How Millie Odhiambo is breaking the boys’ club in war on women’s space in politics
Sexual harassment and exploitation are characterised by a number of features. First is abuse of position, defined in some quarters as the ability to make things non-negotiable. Celebrities derive their power from fame, networks, lucre and influence. This makes it easy for them to buy protection, while limiting their victims from accessing justice, leave alone courage to make their situations public, often for fear of their own lives as well as backlash.
Second is abuse of trust, where the confidence bestowed by third parties is misdirected towards those in the line of care. Third is exploitation of the vulnerability of targeted individuals, this being a factor that makes the latter open to attack. This speaks to unequal conditions where the dominating party has more leverage on the target. Fourth is coercion, forcing the target explicitly or implicitly to comply with the demands or face consequences. Fifth is the use of resources to influence the direction of interaction and even to handle the aftermath.
But the courage by affected individuals to call out abusers is indicative that power is no longer an adequate armour that influential men can rely on perpetually to escape responsibility, whether immediately or eventually. This trend means that people in positions of power must increasingly consider ethical conduct as part of their business or risk not only their careers but also their lifetime reputations which, like a broken glass, cannot be re-assembled.
Organisations typically deal with the issue through codes of conduct and anti-sexual harassment policies. While there is evidence that such measures have led to punishment of errant individuals that the behaviour persists suggests that it should be tackled through a multi-frontal approach where personal ethics and values become the cornerstones of behaviour modelling.
The writer is a lecturer in Gender and Development Studies at South Eastern Kenya University ([email protected]).
