Thread by @DrJennyMackay

I can no longer stay quiet on #DeppvHeard. I watched pretty much all the #DeppVHeardTrial (amazing I got any work done or still have a relationship) and my main takeaway message is, yet again: WE ARE STILL FAILING EVERYONE WHEN WE IGNORE WOMEN'S VIOLENCE & ABUSE. Buckle up...1/13

Just to be clear about *my* context - I'm not a men's rights activist, I'm not a feminist, I'm not a Depp/Heard supporter. I am a staunch believer that there are no 'bad people' but that people do bad things, and that everyone should be given the chance to change. 2/13

I strongly believe in evidence-based psychological understanding of why people do the bad things they do, and using that to inform what might be changed or nurtured to reduce the chances of those bad things happening again. 3/13

Let's now be clear about this case context - this was not a case of proving 'guilt' of intimate partner violence (IPV) but of defamation; Could Depp prove that what Heard said was about him and was false (and could Heard prove what Depp said, via his lawyer, was false) 4/13

We have seen, heard, read awful things both these people did. But in order to prove defamation, each had to demonstrate the other was the instigator of abuse in order to: 5/13

a) prove the other person was the 'abuser', b) prove they themselves were not the main abuser, and thus c) show the statements to be false and defamatory. The result? 6/13

The jury found:
1) that Heard had defamed Depp, presumably because either a) they believed she was the main instigator of abuse, b) they believed she lied about the abuse she claimed to have received, or c) both the above.
And
2) Depp had defamed Heard, on 1 of 3 statements 7/13

made by his lawyer, specifically that Heard and friends had created a hoax scenario of abuse, presumably because they believed she didn't create a hoax scenario on that occasion.
Whatever the reason, I believe the following needs to be learnt from the case: 8/13

Some of the narrative surrounding this case has assumed complete innocence on Heard's part. By blindly assuming that women like Heard are entirely innocent, we are letting them down. We are enabling their perpetration of abuse, we have enabled her to be dragged to this point 9/13

I think we should be very worried about her mental wellbeing rn, but if something should happen to her, the system won't be at fault cos 'women aren't listened to or believed' but cos the system enables some women to believe they can treat others any way they wish, cos men 10/13

are always in the wrong and cos no way can women be the main instigator of IPV! We do a disservice to women like Amber Heard when we infantalise them and blindly believe everything they say. We hold the mirror up to men enough to say 'take responsibility for your behaviour' 11/13

I want that mirror held up to all women, to me, in order to be held accountable for the bad things we do. Stop ignoring or minimising women's abusive behaviour. Stop spreading the message that women now can't come forward if they are a victim of abuse - 12/13

Everybody, women and men, should be supported when they are victims of abuse. But also, everybody should be listened to, supported and held accountable if they are perpetrating abuse. Everyone loses otherwise. 13/13