Amber Heard, has described her Defamation loss to Johnny Depp as a “setback” for women, as in women who have suffered from or presently experiencing domestic violence or sexual abuse.
In the matter of public opinion, Johnny Depp won the case because he is “Johnny Depp,” a public figure and celebrity treasure however, in the matter of my opinion, this case was an extension of a highly publicized ongoing feud between two people who had an unhappy, unhealthy, violent and extremely toxic relationship.
The so-called setback initiated long before the publicity. Prior to the op-ed article when Amber Heard was said to have been punched, beaten, verbally, emotionally, and physically abused yet she admitted that she stayed. All survivors of domestic violence, workplace violence and relationship violence have their own reasons for staying. Fear of leaving often includes fear of uprooting your family, fear of losing your financial stability, fear of retaliation even a fear of failure, but very few of abuse victims claim fear of defamation.
The setback for all sufferers of domestic violence, sexual violence or emotion abuse is SILENCE, the act of doing and saying nothing.
It is no secret that laws pertaining to the protection of women need to change in this country. Police officers need better training when dealing with domestic violence situations, penalties for domestic violence and sexual assault needs to be harsher and restraining orders need real time monitoring with the use of electronic monitoring / tracking devices on the individual, their phone or vehicle during the period outlined in the restraining order.
Domestic Violence has taken a back seat to Abortion Rights, Immigration Laws, Voting Rights and now even Gun Legislation. It’s not like domestic violence isn’t occurring in homes everyday in this country and around the world, it’s the rank in priority that keeps it from gaining headline news as in the case of Heard vs. Depp. Women’s issues will continue to take a back seat, a behind the scenes and less dominant approach as long as there’s a male dominated majority American Government whose agenda has more to do with their own power and wealth, their fear of women becoming far too intelligent, far too independent and far to capable of replacing them. Real change will only occur when women refuse to remain silent and speak the truth about abuse loud enough for the entire world to hear.
