| Hello and welcome to Mind the Gap, a newsletter that adds perspective to the gender developments of the week. It's Pride Month, a time to celebrate the LGBTQI community and remember the struggle for rights and justice is far from over. But, this week, the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial and what the judgment tells us about the price of speaking up. Read on... THE BIG STORY: What the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard verdict tells us about the price of speaking up (and related cautionary tales) The seven member jury, two women and five men, in a Virginia courtroom has reached a verdict after a six-week trial. Both actors are liable for defamation but Depp has been awarded a significantly higher amount of US$15 million (reduced to $10.35 million to conform with Virginia law) to Heard's $2 million. Heard has said she is 'heartbroken' by the decision; her lawyers say she can't afford to pay and will appeal. Here are some takeaways from the verdict. Can men be victims of domestic abuse? Yes they can, and are. Statistics tell us that one in three women worldwide, including in India, are subject to intimate partner violence. While there is no data for male survivors in India, the US-based National Coalition Against Domestic Violence estimates that one in four men experience some form of violence from a partner in America. In cultures with fixed ideas about masculinity and what it means to be a man, it is extremely difficult for a man to come forward as a victim. But, being a victim does not automatically mean you can't be an abuser too – and this applies to both Depp and Heard. Amongst the evidence of abuse presented by Heard: - Photographs, audio recordings and text messages by Depp that also amount to abuse even if made as a 'fantasy' joke-type thing.
- A temporary restraining order against Depp by a Los Angeles court during her divorce proceedings.
- A verdict from a UK court where Depp lost a libel trial in 2020 against The Sun newspaper for calling him a 'wife beater'. The judge there said a 'great majority' of Heard's accusations could, in fact, be proven.
Trial by public opinion Some 18 million Americans watch evening TV news. On TikTok, the hashtag #JusticeforJohnnyDepp topped 18 billion, yes that's billion with a b, while #IStandWithAmberHeard trailed at 8.2 million views. Regardless of the truth about whether Depp was abusive or not towards his ex wife, the vilification of Heard on social media has been unprecedented—one meme that showed her blowing her nose into a tissue claimed she was snorting cocaine in the courtroom. There is much, much worse, but I'll leave that for you to discover, if you have the stomach for it. Underlining all the anti-Heard memes is the fact that domestic abuse is now a ha-ha, meme-generating moment that can be packaged as entertaining content for anyone who wants to watch. Searching for the perfect victim Innumerable judgments of assault against women place an inordinate focus on the woman. Trials in India have dismissed rape charges on grounds that range from, she-fell-asleep-after-saying-she-had-been-raped to the survivor's past sexual history. Rape adjudication and sentencing is deeply influenced by stereotypes of the victim, finds Mrinal Satish, a professor of law and author of a book that examines 25 years of rape jurisprudence from the Supreme Court and high courts. The problem with the idea of the 'perfect victim' is the subjective bias it puts survivors through. In any event, a victim is already damned if she does, damned if she doesn't. Cries too much during testimony? She's hysterical. Doesn't cry enough? She's cold and calculating. This is a battle nobody can win. So where does that leave survivors of domestic abuse? In India, women are socially conditioned to never complain, to believe that pati is parmeshwar. To understand how ingrained this attitude is, comes a chilling tale of the death by suicide of three sisters, two of them pregnant, along with their two children from Rajasthan's Jaipur district. Daughters of a landless labourer, the sisters, the eldest 27 and the youngest 20, were married to three brothers. The younger of the two children was just a 22-day-old infant. All three were educated, one a postgraduate, the other a graduate and the third had enrolled to complete a Bachelor's degree in education. Their bodies were discovered at the bottom of a well on May 28. The drastic decision of the sisters was reached after years of domestic abuse aggravated by a lack of dowry. Why didn't they speak up? They did. In 2018, the eldest registered a police case of dowry harassment and domestic violence against her husband and in-laws but withdrew it after a 'compromise' was reached. A fortnight before their death, the eldest was beaten so severely by her husband that she ended up spending eight days in a Jaipur hospital, say family members. No police complaint was filed. Lack of structural support Heard talks about 'our culture's wrath' for daring to speak up against a popular actor. Her evisceration on social media is proof of that wrath. In India, despite a law against domestic violence, police remain reluctant to file complaints, accepting 'compromise' (or actively urging it). Data tells us 19 women are killed every day because of domestic violence and another 19 a day over dowry. Activists and even the National Commission for Women reported a spike in domestic violence during the lockdown. Yet the minister for women insisted that this spike was exaggerated. Very often, the process is the punishment. Defamation in India is a criminal offence, and not just a civil one as in the United States. Calling the Depp-Heard verdict 'disturbing news', senior advocate Indira Jaising, a key figure in drafting India's domestic violence law said husbands could now file criminal action against wives for accusing them of domestic violence. Some of the women who spoke up during India's #MeToo movement faced years of expensive, emotionally exhausting litigation. Journalist Priya Ramani won her case filed by former minister and editor M.J. Akbar. He has now filed an appeal in the high court, and the case continues. What will it take to believe women? | 
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