Andrea Constand’s The Case Against Cosby is a study of trauma, healing and finding justice | 24CA News
WARNING: This article accommodates references to sexual abuse and should have an effect on those that have skilled abuse or know somebody affected by it.
Andrea Constand is already used to media scrutiny. The Canadian athlete-turned- creator — and now registered therapeutic massage therapist — has seen and heard her title within the news for years.
While initially that was for her achievements as each an newbie {and professional} basketball participant, for the previous 5 years it has been for one thing else: the one lady to see her allegations of sexual assault in opposition to American comic Bill Cosby result in a legal trial.
“I was really fortunate to have other women come forward in their own courage, in their own bravery,” Constand stated in a current interview with 24CA News. “And I stepped up to the plate for them — my approach was to do it for them, to be in service and get justice where they were not able to get justice.”
Constand has returned to the highlight as soon as once more, however not by specializing in Cosby — who has constantly maintained his innocence. Instead, her documentary collection The Case Against Cosby (which premiered on CBC Gem on Sunday) focuses extra on others who’ve accused him, in addition to her work as an advocate for sexual assault survivors.
When sitting for a deposition in Andrea Constand’s civil case, Cosby admitted to drugging girls to have intercourse with them.
“It’s not an easy story to tell. My story is uncomfortable for many people, painful for many people,” she stated. “But I think we’ve done a great job.”
Constand was certainly one of greater than 60 girls to allege that Cosby, who’s now 85, assaulted them over the course of his six-decade profession, and in 2018, he was convicted on expenses of drugging and assaulting Constand in 2004.
But in 2021, Cosby’s conviction was overturned and he was launched from jail when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court dominated that prosecutors had been sure by a earlier district legal professional’s settlement to not cost him over Constand’s allegations.
Constand’s documentary, which is partly primarily based on her e book The Moment: Standing Up to Bill Cosby, Speaking Up for Women and made alongside Canadian director Karen Wookey, will not be the primary documentary concerning the controversy. The miniseries We Need to Talk About Cosby appeared again on the comic.
Their venture paperwork the method as a small variety of girls who’ve accused the comic gathered for a retreat with doctor and trauma specialist Gabor Maté. Constand stated one of many primary targets of the documentary was to not rehash their allegations however to point out how they every grapple with trauma.
“It was just incredible. It was just profound,” she stated of the expertise. “And it will be something that I will never forget in my life, that weekend with the women.”
Cosby’s group didn’t reply to a request for remark from CBC News concerning the documentary. In an earlier remark to The Canadian Press about The Case Against Cosby, his lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, said that “it seems to start with a false premise, namely that Mr. Cosby was convicted.”
“Mr. Cosby does not stand convicted of any crime against any accuser, including Ms. Constand,” she stated.
Cosby faces lawsuits from a number of girls
Wookey stated Constand’s journey was a part of the rationale she wished to tackle the venture — although removed from the one one.
“Number one was Andrea’s extraordinary story, which includes the legal story, which was an odyssey,” she stated, in addition to “understanding the mind of a perpetrator and how they operate.”
The third cause, Wookey stated, “is understanding trauma and why when something like this happens to someone, they don’t just get over it.”
The Case Against Cosby launched amid a raft of different news concerning the comic. Cosby was sued for sexual battery in New York earlier this month, following related lawsuits filed by 5 different girls in December.
Cosby has additionally introduced his intentions to mount a comedy tour this spring or summer season. It could be his first tour since 2015, when he appeared at quite a few stops in Ontario that sparked average protests and heckles.
“Let him try,” Wookey stated when requested how she feels concerning the deliberate tour. “I would hope that the world’s a different place … and I think that he’ll find that the world has shifted a bit if that happens — if that happens. I have my doubts.”
For her half, Constand stated — as with their documentary — the main target should not be on Cosby in any respect.
“I feel like if anybody deserves a comeback tour, it’s all the women,” she stated. “It’s the 60-plus Cosby women out there whose lives got shattered.”
Support is obtainable for anybody who has been sexually assaulted. You can entry disaster traces and native help providers via this Government of Canada web site or the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. If you are in rapid hazard or worry on your security or that of others round you, please name 911.
