The Australian Financial Review | AFR

40 29 February-1 March 2020 Weekend Fin The Australian Financial Review | www.afr.com AFR Chiu was a 24-year-old Oxford graduate and had worked for Weinstein for just two months in the Miramax London office. She WEINSTEIN’S says he tried to rape her in a hotel room dur- ing the Venice film festival in 1998. Weinstein denies he assaulted Chiu. Now an advocate for the MeToo movement, Chiu is speaking out against the use of SECRET non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to silence victims of sexual assault. She is also calling for a cultural shift where rape victims aren’t treated like criminals and is lob- WEAPON bying for laws to end harassment and abuse MeToo For decades, the sexual predator hid behind in the workplace. ‘‘NDAs have been weaponised into a legal non-disclosure agreements and hush money, document that hide actual crimes,’’ Chiu told AFR Weekend. ‘‘Corporations are now one accuser tells Natasha Boddy. saying, ‘Sign this NDA, take this money, we can make this go away’. Companies should not be permitted to use these NDAs as a way of silencing victims because it helps these corporations maintain their good name.’’ owena Chiu was hit by bracing for full acquittal,’’ she says. For almost 20 years, Chiu could tell no a wave of emotion as In her first Australian interview since one about what happened to her in 1998 she watched her for- Weinstein’s guilty verdict this week, because of a non-disclosure agreement she mer boss, Harvey 45-year-old Chiu says the case has exposed signed. It was known that Weinstein was a Weinstein, being led the frailty and inappropriateness of the legal ‘‘bully’’ with a ‘‘legendary temper’’ and an out of a New York system when dealing with rape cases. ‘‘adulterer’’ who was inappropriate with courtroom shackled ‘‘It’s a well-known statistic that only 2 per women and his female staff. in handcuffs. She was cent of rapes ever reach convictions so we’re ‘‘There were rumours about him, that he conflicted, torn, confused. And it caught her in that lucky category to even get a partial was unfaithful to his wife and he’d ask for Rby surprise. conviction,’’ says the British-born mother of massages from assistants or liked to strut ‘‘So I kind of thought that if there’d be any four from Silicon Valley. around naked,’’ Chiu says. kind of conviction that I would feel some ‘‘I think there needs to be systemic ‘‘Now that I’m in my mid-40s, I look back sense of elation and jubilation. I think many change because the process was hor- at [myself as] someone who was young and people did feel that,’’ says Chiu, who has rific. For the six women who were up desperate to get into film and think I was accused the former movie mogul of trying to there, it was as though they were on naive. What was interesting about Holly- rape her in 1998 when she was his assistant. trial. Their private lives were on trial, Rowena Chiu regrets signing a non-disclosure wood was the sense of normalisation of this Chiu says she is in awe of the six brave their morality was on trial. All of it deal, Harvey Weinstein. PHOTO: KATHY LABARRE kind of behaviour.’’ women who took the stand as well as the was laid bare. They were criticised But when it came to Weinstein’s sexual 100 women, like her, who have spoken out for friendly emails, maintaining con- sexual assault, and one count of rape in the predations, it would take until 2017 for the but not had their day in court and the scores tact with Harvey Weinstein. first degree. truth to be fully exposed. of others who are pushing for change in the They had to live up to this myth of a Chiu says she was sexually assaulted by ‘‘Harvey was considered a sex pest. The fallout of the MeToo movement. perfect rape victim.’’ Weinstein, a secret she kept for almost 20 reality of who he turned out to be was so ‘‘To kind of get to a point where there was Weinstein was convicted of rape in years, including from her Australian-born much worse,’’ Chiu says. "The first night that even a partial conviction was very awe- the third degree and a criminal husband Andrew Cheung, who didn’t find I was alone in a hotel room [in Venice] with inspiring to see the power of all that coming sexual act but was acquitted of the out until 2017. She shared her story for the him involved a lot of badgering, a lot of pes- together but honestly, I think a lot of us were most serious charge, predatory first time in the book She Said. tering, a lot of, you know, promises that I THE BIZARRE WORLD OF ‘PRISON PREPPERS’ Hard cell The former movie mogul has paid consultants to help him adjust to life inside, writes Luke Mintz. teve Dagworthy had never will be grateful: when he leaves the hospital received so much as a school prison ward to which he was rushed after detention when, in 2009, he suffering heart palpitations following his was escorted into Chelmsford conviction, the 67-year-old will be held at prison to begin a six-year sen- Rikers Island, a notorious New York jail that tence for fraud. Until then, the housed Sex Pistols punk Sid Vicious and S44-year-old had lived a quiet, middle-class Mark Chapman, the man who killed John existence with his wife and two children in Lennon. Essex, where he worked as a financial Rikers has been plagued by overcrowding broker. and gang brutality and there have been Prison was an environment he knew only allegations of human rights violations, and from television and he was staggered by just conditions are so brutal that in 2017 mayor how little his lawyers had prepared him for Bill de Blasio vowed to shut it down within a life behind bars. decade. He was a stranger to what his fellow Dagworthy tells his British clients that inmates called ‘‘cell etiquette’’, for example, their first six months inside will be domin- such as the rule that whoever arrives first in ated by fear and bewilderment. ‘‘The prison a cell gets the bottom bunk. And he was van might as well have been a spaceship, ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● appalled to witness bloody knife fights because it put me into a whole new world,’’ among his fellow inmates, some of whom he says. ‘‘I liken it to arriving in North Korea. WHAT TO EXPECT | YOUR FIRST TIME IN JAIL ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● planted ‘‘shivs’’ in the handles of tooth- The sights, smells, sounds, the language the brushes. other prisoners speak was all alien to me. Steve Dagworthy’s British company on a community phone. within the first three months you Upon his release in 2012, Dagworthy ‘‘Most middle-class prisoners will come provides the following advice to its ■ A significant minority of your will be offered illegal drugs and founded Prison Consultants, Britain’s first across as slightly different to the rest. clients entering the prison system: fellow prisoners will suffer from witness violence. jail time advice service, which teaches They’re not of the villainous nature, they mental illness, personality disorders ■ All your post can be read by wealthy clients how to adapt to life inside. probably speak slightly differently, they ■ Your first experience of prison will or have an addiction of some kind. prison officers. The bizarre (and expanding) world of probably don’t understand the language. be 21 out of 24 hours per day locked ■ You will be given a set of heavily ■ Upon arrival at prison all prisoners, these ‘‘prison preppers’’ was highlighted ‘‘Then, about six months in, clients will up, probably in a shared cell and overused bedding, prison clothes regardless of their crime, are treated this week by Harvey Weinstein, who hired reach their realisation point – when the with a shared toilet. You will be fed and underwear. equally; white collar offenders start his own prison consultant shortly before his adrenaline stops pumping. You’ve realised food that costs pennies and tastes ■ You will not know what the prison at the same level and in the same conviction for third-degree rape, for which this is your home now and then the enorm- unpleasant. rules are but you will be punished if cells as hardened career criminals he faces up to 25 years in prison. ity hits you, and the stress you put on your ■ You will be lucky if you have 10 you break them. and repeat offenders. For thousands of dollars, experts say, the family. That’s a massive low point. It took minutes each day to call your family ■ There is a real likelihood that SOURCE: PRISONCONSULTANTS.CO.UK unnamed consultant will most likely me about two weeks to get through. explain to Weinstein how to survive life in He advises his clients to find something to the slammer as an ultra-recognisable sex fill their day, but to keep away from jobs that Above: a court artist ence will depend massively on where he is punch him’’ – as demonstrated by Edward offender, going into everything from how to might put them in an awkward position. If captured the held after sentencing. High-security institu- Norton’s character in American History X, deal with his fellow inmates to how to fill his you work in the kitchen, for example, you moment when tions such as Rikers are ‘‘violent and danger- who gets into a brawl to prepare for his spell long, empty days.

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