Wake up to the witch hunt(s)
by Lucy Hutchings Hunt
*I first wrote this article during the #metoo storm back in 2017. I think it's as relevant now as ever. The over all gist of the essay being.. let's just all stop with this unkind, self-righteous 'I'm holier than thou', blame culture mentality*
**constructive critical feedback always welcome 🙏
A long time ago, I had the privilege of studying English literature at Exeter university. One thing that sticks in my mind from those days at Exeter is reading the plaque that adorns the wall in the ruined gatehouse of Rougemont Castle, Castle Street. Still today it reads like this: ‘In memory of Temperance Lloyd, Sussanah Edwards, Mary Trembles of Bideford, died 1682; Alice Molland, died 1685; the last people in England to be executed for witch craft. Tried here & hanged at Heavitree. In the hope of an end to persecution and intolerance.”
The trials and public executions of supposed witches took place prolifically all over the world in the years before Temperance, Sussannah, Mary and Alice died and indeed we have all surely heard of the notorious Salem witch trials that took place in Massachusetts around the same time. I read today that the last ‘witch’ execution in the UK took place in Scotland as late as 1727 when a ‘witch' was executed by being burnt alive at the stake. Crazy to think that during that time nearly 80,000 people (predominantly women) were tried and 40,000 were executed as heretic witches in the name of ‘god’.
I’m sure most of us sit here and think “how can people from the Early Modern Period have been so bonkers? How can everyday, average people just trying to get by in life have let malicious, suspicious gossip result in such an horrific wave of blatant and deathly persecution?" Regrettably I am no longer afforded the gift of time to study, explore and write in depth papers on such things.. (needless to say I had no idea how blessed I was when I did have the time!) but lucky for me, others have done plentiful research on exactly this phenomena.
After a quick Google search I found I was in particular agreement with Economist Peter Leeson’s assertion that ‘the phenomenon (of witch hunting)…using public trials to advertise superior power along some dimension as a competitive strategy - is much broader than the prosecution of witches in Early Modern Europe… it appears in different forms elsewhere in the world as far back as the ninth century and all the way up to the 20th century and Stalin’s trials in the Soviet Union… “ Those who have seen the 1953 play The Crucible by Arthur Miller will probably know that he wrote the play as an allegory for McCarthyism, when the United States Government ostracised people for being Communists. Arthur Miller observed what was happening around him in US politics at the time and used the medium of theatre to try and remind or warn folk of the danger that frenzied finger-pointing would unleash. I believe Arthur Miller’s message should resonate with us all and I would argue that these ’trials’ are still taking place in multiple guises and tiered, cultural variants throughout the world today. However my most pressing concern right now, is for my own country and the cause of my present day sisterhood. This is because I believe we are in the midst of a surreptitious witch hunt, one that is being galvanised and gaining strength all around us here today in Britain. Yes that’s right. I think we have a witch hunt going on right now and right in front of our eyes. And the speed with which the witch hunt is gaining self-righteous momentum and damagingly being played out in the name of feminism via our modern media really frightens me.
To put this in context I switched on the news this morning to hear yet another indignant woman ‘naming and shaming’ a chap who had ‘lunged’ at her at a work event over a decade ago. The newscasters sat there on national TV making sympathetic noises as she remembered the trauma this man’s unwanted advances had caused her. I sympathise with the issue the indignant woman was trying to raise awareness of. I really do. I get that there are still massive advances that need to be made in relation to gender equality and gender discrimination in the workplace. I get that a conversation needs to be had about where lines should be drawn. I get that we need to have a public dialogue about consent and use lessons learned from people’s unjust past experiences to help educate our sons and daughters about what is and isn’t acceptable behaviour. But I really don’t get the ‘naming and shaming’. I really don’t get the fact that suddenly it’s OK to point the finger and ‘call out’ people publicly on live TV and on social media (or anywhere else for that matter). People who may not even remember the event in question and are unprepared and ill-equipped to defend themselves from the public onslaught of condemnation. I think this wave of trial by media has frightening echoes of the Early Modern Period’s witch hunts. I believe it is fundamentally, morally wrong and potentially just as dangerous - not just for the individuals concerned - but for society as a whole.
I hope those who know me will vouch for my commitment to the feminist cause. They will note that I am dedicated to vocally, practically and tactically supporting women to step into their best selves and channel their unique powers and talents so they can live personally fulfilled lives and add maximum value to society. Those who know me would no doubt also say I’m the first to support the underdog in nearly every situation… BUT... I just don’t think finger pointing and publicly naming and shaming people who made mistakes decades ago is the right way to go about supporting the underdog in this situation. Indeed I think it is positively a counter-productive way to go about it. I think it undermines the case for those who are working hard to truly channel their feminine power and support their fellow sisters to reach their ultimate potential. And the press are just as responsible as the finger pointers for stoking this killer fire. In fact I hold them majoritively accountable because they are the ones who are looking for the quick fix headlines. They grasp at broken straws in an effort to fill their 24 hour news feeds and more and more it seems they provide a platform for frenzied finger pointing and unverified accusations. (As an aside has anyone watched a film called 'The Lost Honour of Christopher Jeffries’ recently? It’s absolutely horrifying what that poor man went through - and all because of totally unfounded accusations fuelled by the press). I feel someone has to speak up and say the whole "he touched my knee at a party over a decade a go” thing is getting out of hand. How is it ok for anyone - of any gender - to have a platform on national TV or in the national newspapers - to hurl ruinous, unsubstantiated, unvalidated accusations like this?
For those who might tell me to get back in my box and say ‘you don’t know what you’re talking about as it’s never happened to you'... I tell them: I do know. It has happened to me. I was 21 when I had a bright career ahead of me in the City. I worked on the trading floor for a bank and the career trajectory for someone in my position involved that of a potentially high flying, very well paid job in equity sales & trading. But my career faltered after a night with the ‘boys’ on my large, all male (apart from one other female) team. It faltered after one fateful night in particular when I was taken advantage of by a chap very senior to me who was in his mid 40s (remember, I was 21). We were out celebrating the birth of his third child (as far as I know his wife was at home, or even still in hospital, breast feeding). Now bear in mind I was very new to London, extremely naive and wet behind the ears (and on reflection totally out of my depth). I’d also had champagne poured down my throat for most of the evening and couldn’t remember a thing about getting home. All I did know the next day is that he took entirely inappropriate advantage of me and he should have known better. One thing had led to another and it left me full of shame and self-loathing for my part in the inappropriate interaction with my ‘boss'. The whole thing deeply effected me and I felt so uncomfortable about it, I ended up leaving the job not long after - just so I didn’t have to see him on a daily basis. I then embarked on years of drifting. My professional confidence was completely diminished and I developed an overwhelming, almost debilitating self-hatred for having been party to such an Amoral encounter. When I look back now I see I was extremely harsh on myself. If my daughter were in that situation I would be outraged for her and certainly not have blamed her. But I was very critical of myself at the time and it led to years of self-flagellation. I now have nothing but compassion for the younger me. I recognise how the older chap behaved was appalling. I forgive myself. But the fact remains my career was completely derailed and who knows how abundant my bank balance might look now had I not handed in my notice and instead stuck at the city job!
So. This guy was a total sh*t. He embodied everything that was (and still is in some places) wrong with the way some men treat women in the work place. His wife would no doubt have been furious with him had she known and he should, to this day, still be hanging his head in shame. All of this is true. BUT… do I think he should be named and shamed on national morning TV? Do I think he should be dragged over the coals and hung out to dry in public for his sins? Do I think he deserves to have his reputation shattered and his retirement ruined (he would be in his mid 60s now)? The answer is a big fat resounding NO.
I say again. Of course I want to raise awareness about the underlying issues of the problem I encountered and of course I don’t want my daughter to go through an equivalent experience in her lifetime. With his entitled and predatory behaviour (and the position afforded him by seniority and power) that lecherous guy contributed to stalling my career and the fall out over ensuing years nearly drove me to suicide BUT in my case I have to take responsibility for the fact that I didn’t help myself either by being drunk. It’s taken me a long, long time to claw back some self-respect, sort myself out and get into a flourishing groove running my own business but I don’t sit around being resentful about the wasted time and what happened 20 years ago. I don’t blame any particular individuals for disrupting the flow of my career. This is because a very wise woman once warned me that holding resentments against someone (or something) is like drinking poison and waiting for the other party to die. It’s pointless. And it only serves to hurt the person doing the resenting in the long run.
Multiple life experiences have led me to have zero time for blame cultures. I know they don’t work. Blame cultures do not serve ANYONE in the long run. Least of all the people dishing out blame. I 100% believe only in forgiveness and learning lessons wherever possible. (It’s one of the reasons I don’t drink anymore as I’ve learnt my lesson about getting drunk and making myself unnecessarily vulnerable. I am no longer prepared to get into compromising positions - so I just don’t get drunk!) But the whole point of this article is to highlight - that however much of a sh*t that guy was - I still don’t believe he should be named and shamed today, 20 years later. I believe this as I don’t want to be party to a witch hunt. The naming and shaming would not help my cause or the cause of millions of women like me who have also suffered from inappropriate advances and unfair balance of power in the work place. To be clear, it is my belief that the recent wave of public naming and shaming is nothing short of a modern day 'witch' hunting frenzy that actually diminishes the power of the conversation we need to have around calling out people who have committed true crimes such as rape or systematic, sociopathic workplace discrimination.
I also think this is not just about men vs women or any gender vs any gender. It's about being human and having compassion for others as we navigate our paths through a shared human experience. I know there are times in my previous often inebriated life, when I’ve made inadvertent, probably uninvited advances to chaps whilst I’ve been plastered. I’m enormously apologetic, totally embarrassed and feel a grotesque prat when I recall those moments. BUT do I deserve to be named and shamed at this stage in my life? Do I deserve to be torn to shreds by a baying crowd of vultures when I live each day to redeem myself? Do I deserve to be called a predator and humiliated in public, put on trial by the media, have my name dragged through the mud and my professional and personal reputation diminished? I sincerely hope not. If I committed a crime by lunging at someone, once a long time a go... then file legal charges against me. Take me to court and let the legal system try me and find me guilty or not. Please don’t go on morning TV or tell the papers the gory details first. That’s just mean and childish (and aren't we always telling our kids not to tell tales?!) Don’t turn a conversation that should be taken seriously into a gladiatorial style witch hunt (surely as women we should recognise the dangers to society of witch hunts? I have no doubt, if if I’d lived in the 1600s, I’d have been one of the unlucky souls to have been drowned or burned at the stake and then I’d REALLY have something to complain about!!) No, unless my advances amount to committing a sexual crime that should be prosecuted in a court of law - then just have compassion; let me alone to suffer in silence as I deal with my excruciatingly bruised ego (and I’ll do the same for you).
YES we need to raise awareness of this incredibly important issue but it has to be without naming and shaming the people involved in these 'he said, she said' unproven, possibly misremembered or misinterpreted events. The naming and shaming of people for a 'stroked knee’ or an inappropriate ‘lunge’ at a Christmas party totally diminishes the power of calling out someone when they commit real crimes such as rape or systematic, sociopathic workplace discrimination. We have to remember that: For the sake of all our sisters who were hunted (and for those who REALLY still are) we have to live by example in the hope of a universal 'end to persecution and intolerance' and not be unconscious participants in sustaining it.
I’ll finish on the words of a wise 2000 year old man - as they keep popping into my head... “(S)He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her..." (or in this case 'him').
