CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi fired, accused of sexual abuse.

[jasc15]

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/10/29/jian_ghomeshi_8_women_accuse_former_cbc_host_of_violence_sexual_abuse_or_harassment.html

I haven't seen mention of this here, and I'm not sure just how popular the guy is (I think his show is good, though I've only listened about half a dozen times), but I think the story itself is interesting for the following reason:

His defense isn't that he did not "assault" these women, but that consensual engagement in BDSM with his partners is being misconstrued as assault by them.  As I see it, this is a difficult situation with current domestic abuse news combined with privacy and non-judgement of sexuality.

One one hand you could say that these women, even if they went along with Ghomeshi, did so out of fear, etc. which is common to many instances of rape and sexual abuse.  "Willingness" is a grey area; the fact that a woman eventually engages in sex does not mean she is willing.

On the other hand, this can be construed as a judgement of this particular form of sexuality (which is mainly his case against the CBC), and a potential avenue for some women to retaliate against him for whatever reason.  This point of view has its own difficulty, because rape/sexual assault has too often been dismissed as simply a woman's regret.

[Chino]

I'm not kidding when I say this.

It is of utmost importance to have both a safe word and a safe gesture/action. You need to have both. If one partner continues and ignores the safe sign, then it's assault. IMO.

"Willingness" is a grey area; the fact that a woman eventually engages in sex does not mean she is willing.

Engaging in sex,and strapping up in leather and chains are two completely different things (I think). If these woman strapped up and got in character, that's a lot more voluntary, to me, than just taking off clothing and agreeing to have sex. This has got to be a very hard conclusion to come to in the court room. BDSM is a rather touchy subject with people who don't/have never partaken in it (or even know what it is for that matter). I feel like the outcome will be heavily biased based on the age and gender.

There are people that would accuse me of assault, and possibly even rape if they saw the stuff my girl friend and I do. We have three different safety signals, and until either of us do one of the three, anything goes. If someone like me was on the jury, I'd be a lot more likely to at least be willing to hear this guy's side of things. If someone like my mother was on the jury, it'd probably just look like rape no matter how it was portrayed. 

[El Barto]

I don't think it's difficult at all. Handle each case and allegation separately and see how they fall into place. I suspect some will be prosecuted as assault cases, some sexual assault cases, some won't be at all, and a handful of civil cases will arise for the harassment and eventual damages aspects. I've got no problem with the CBC sacking him, and if jurisprudence works out that it was unfounded then he'll sue them.

If we want to get into the more philosophical aspects of it, the guy needs to learn some boundaries. I've got no problem with people who are into rough sex, but make sure the partner is as well before belting her and using her reaction to assume consent. That's just fucking stupid.

[hefdaddy42]

I don't begrudge anyone their right to any kind of bedroom activity they choose, but it absolutely must be consensual.  If he was just hitting and choking these women out of the blue, then he deserves whatever he gets.