New York - A forensic psychiatrist with
expertise in rape trauma took the stand as a prosecution witness
at former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein's Manhattan rape
trial on Friday, explaining why some sexual assault victims do
not report attacks or avoid their abusers.
Barbara Ziv, who also testified for prosecutors at
entertainer Bill Cosby's 2018 sexual assault retrial, said
popular views of sexual assault were often colored by "rape
myths," including that rape usually occurs between strangers.
Ziv said most victims of rapes and sexual assaults know
their attackers, do not fight back during the attacks, and
maintain contact with their attackers. She also said some resist
coming forward promptly because they feel ashamed or fear
retribution.
"They're hoping that this was just an aberration," said Ziv,
who teaches at Temple University in Philadelphia.
Ziv's testimony could help prosecutors show jurors why some
women who have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct might have
stayed in contact with him after it occurred.
Weinstein, 67, has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting
two women, Mimi Haleyi and Jessica Mann, and other charges that
could put him in prison for life if he were convicted. The trial
is expected to last into March.
Since 2017, more than 80 women, including many famous
actresses, have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct, fueling
the #MeToo movement.
Weinstein has denied any nonconsensual sex, and his lawyers
said in opening statements on Wednesday that emails from his
accusers would show they maintained warm relations.
The trial is widely seen as a watershed moment for #MeToo,
in which women have accused powerful men in business,
entertainment, media and politics of sexual misconduct.
On cross-examination, Weinstein lawyer Damon Cheronis
confronted Ziv with her testimony in a separate case where a
student sued her school over an alleged sexual assault.
According to Cheronis, Ziv testified for the defense that
had the student been conscious she could have spoken up against
her attacker. But Ziv said the comment was taken out of context.
Cheronis also asked Ziv if a woman could view a consensual
encounter years later as nonconsensual because she had come to
regret it.
"Anything is possible," Ziv answered. "It's not usual."
On Thursday, actress Annabella Sciorra from "The Sopranos"
testified that Weinstein had violently raped her in her home in
the early 1990s, and then harassed her for years.
While that alleged conduct occurred too long ago to support
a separate rape charge against Weinstein, prosecutors hope it
will show that Weinstein is a repeat sexual predator, the charge
that could put him in prison for life.
Sciorra testified that her encounter with Weinstein left her
depressed, causing her to drink heavily and cut herself, and
unable to tell her family what had happened.
Under questioning from another of Weinstein's lawyers, Donna
Rotunno, Sciorra acknowledged that she had not reported the
alleged rape to authorities or sought medical help.
"At the time, I didn't understand that it was rape," she
said.
Cosby has been appealing his conviction and three- to
10-year prison sentence from his 2018 retrial.