Attorneys, even including women, don’t want to waste their time when so many judges are misogynistic. I had a similar experience trying to find an attorney to take a sex discrimination case against a public university. I easily found lawyers willing to take the case on other grounds, but no lawyer would include the sex discrimination charge despite solid evidence. They viewed that claim as a potential turn off to the judge. We ultimately won on other grounds. But winning financially was not what I was looking for. I wanted the university to know that they wrongly discriminated against me and that never happened.
7
The sad fact is that too many powerful and respected men still think their special status entitles them to beautiful young women's (and men's) bodies--just part of the generous rewards package that comes with their VIP status. I doubt these 'encumbrados' like Mr. Arias ever wonder afterwards just what damage their predations have left in their wake. And they really really should! You don't have to be a delicate lily to have an episode like this truly mess with your head and your self-confidence.
May these stories and testimonies keep on coming to light! At least bad publicity will probably make these Lotharios think a couple of times before lunging at a reporter or politician or human rights activist who happens to be a woman.
18
If these accusations are even partly true, Arias should apologize and seek to make amends. The achievements for which he received the Nobel Prize should not be judged by personal misdeeds, however.
2
Don't see the problem here. Just made a few passes, maybe some penetration, but backed off when asked to. That's the best way to determine if a woman is interested: grab her and see.
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This is sarcasm, right?
5
@No
Thank you for weighing in, Mr. Trump.
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What hurdles do MEN face trying to prove their innocence? Is it EVER possible that a woman might tell a lie? Is it POSSIBLE that a man might actually be INNOCENT of charges made against him? I only speak for myself but I will never give up my belief in someone's innocence until they are proven guilty, irregardless of how difficult it may or may not be for the accuser to come forward in a timely manner so that EVIDENCE can be collected to corroborate the alleged wrongdoings. This goes for those I personally disdain like Brett Kavanaugh, for gay men like Kevin Spacey, and for Virginia's Lt. Governor. EVERYONE in my book is innocent if they cannot be proven guilty and to make allegations that cannot be substantiated and that can RUIN a person's life is slander of the worst kind, period.
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@ManhattanWilliam Yes - and your position has been used for years to intimidate women and keep them in their place after these assaults have occurred. The first question you need to ask yourself is: Why would a woman put themselves through the embarassment and coming legal harassment with a made up story? Defies common sense. The next question you have to ask is: if for some unexplainable reason a woman did make something like this up- a proven extreme rarity - what are the odds that more than one will come up with the same story? There is a better chance that you will win the powerball than this happening. The legal system has a long history of allowing men to get away with this on legalities, and destroying women who have tried to find justice. Let there be that rare male casualty. The scales of justice have too long been far tilted away from women.
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@BruceC If you can't prove your accusation, I'm not going to take your word for something, and certainly not going to suggest that someone's life should be ruined because of an accusation, it's as simple as that. You can list a million excuses and examples, but I stand with hundreds of years of Common Law and if women want to be treated EQUALLY, then they shouldn't be believed any more than a man should be in making an accusation about something that cannot be substantiated. Coming forward quickly allows for evidence to be produced and investigated. Sort of hard 20 years after the fact as is being done in Virginia. A 20 year old accusation is nothing more than a SMEAR.
3
Very sad. I was impressed by Arias when he visited our city many years ago. But when this many women recount their experiences it's not something you can dismiss nor ignore.
I wonder if Arias's first wife knew about this... seems like I heard things about him about that time and wondered.
7
I applaud Ms Black for smacking him in face. My wife,as a teen had to kick a powerful pol in her nation in the groin. He didn't bother her again.
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People say, "Why didn't she report?"
Many women do report and it's ignored or dismissed as he said, she said. And when women do report and go through a very invasive forensice rape exam, those kits often sit unprocessed on shelves. How is THAT due process?
And look how many young women had to report Nassar before it was taken seriously. How many women had to come forward against Cosby? How many men who were assaulted as boys had to report before it was taken seriously by the Church? How many nuns will have to come forward for their stories of abuse and assault to be taken seriously.
And wealthy powerful men hold the cards.
Lawyers wouldn't take her case. How is that due process?
When people talk about 'due process,' they're talking about protecting the legal rights of men--mostly the wealthy men. The Weinsteins, the Sanduskys, and Brock Turners of the world. They don't care that women, the poor, children, people of color rarely get equal due process based on their lack of cultural capital
36
This slew of self righteousness has become very tiresome.
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I am so sick of men like Óscar Arias Sánchez.
Rich. Powerful. Entitled. Twisted. Disgusting.
They see a woman and they attack. They molest. They grab and hold and rape.
Then they walk away. What kind of sick man thinks that a woman wants this? What kind of demented brain thinks that a woman walks away, too, unscathed? What man is so full of himself that he would think that his ugly-self would be wanted on someone else's body?
But there's the catch: Men like this DON'T think about the impact on the woman they are holding down.
That's the violence running through their blood. That's the sense of, "If I See It And I Want It, It Is Mine."
Is it sociopathic? Very well could be. In all the famous men whose names have come up, it would be hard to say they weren't sociopathic. They repeatedly attack women because that's what THEY want to do.
Remember a sociopath has no empathy. No adherence to societal rules and norms and morals.
Oscar belongs in jail like the rest of them. Let's see if he lands there or if the good ole' boy network, and million dollar attorneys will keep them out, and ready, to abuse again.
It is not just women who must raise their voices, people. It's men. Good men - and there are plenty of good men out there - must raise their voices against horrible men like Sanchez and Trump and Weinstein and the rest of them.
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As a male who grew up in Costa Rica, this is unfortuanately not at all suprising. Powerfull men especially tend to beleive they can 'get away' with unwanted gropes and advances because women fear telling the story.
While I admire Dr. Arias's accomplishments as a politician, he, unfortunately, undoes a lot of the good achieved with personal behavior faults. Common though they may be, on expects more from leaders.
25
@Jon
You admire his accomplishments as a politician?
I used to think Bill Cosby was funny. I don't anymore.
5
I'm tired of people wanting attention tearing down the rule of law and destroying due process.
#MeToo isn't about getting justice for women. It's about an individual getting attention for something that *might* have happened to them. That's why it's called #ME-too, instead of #YouToo. Because the ME person doesn't really care about you.
Yes, "liberal" men are sometimes pigs, and should not be tolerated. Some should go to jail. But I'm not going to judge anyone based on ancient "She said, he said" because that is NOT evidence of wrong doing.
Finally, I note that we have a women-hating serial abuser of women in the White House, and the latest new women-hating Supreme Court justice is also an abuser of women. Yet they get to keep their jobs, while their opponents are told they must leave.
These women who insist of getting their day in the court of public opinion by trying their case in the press are only cutting their own noses off to spite their faces because they are definitely helping real women-hating politicians like Donald Trump.
10
@Jay David Confused. There is no right of due process i the Court of Publlc Opinion. "Due process" applies to punitive government actions, in court or else where . In the private sector, in politic, no such right exists, even as a moral code. Else wise, in the USA, a private sector employee could not be fired for "good reason, bad reason, or no reason at all(law or union contract limiting)." In the USA public sector, employment, justice, administrative actions, etc. are all covered by the strong right of due process.
BTW, this article is about Costa Rica, which follows Roman, not Anglo, derived legal processes.
19
@Jay David Due process is not being destroyed.Neither Mr. Arias nor other men have been found guilty and sent to jail because of mere allegations without supporting evidence. Right? Also, I'm not sure what you mean by "liberal men are sometimes pigs". No one is saying that sexual harassment or assault is characteristic of liberal men. It has nothing to do with politics. I don't have to name the many "conservative" men that have been accused of the same.
34
@Dr. Bob: You're correct that "due process" applies in a legal setting, e.g., a trial, in a courtroom. Jay David is confusing a genuine, bona fide trial (where due process would apply) to the court of public opinion, which is not a real, legal courtroom.
But you are incorrect in your statement that in the US, in the private sector, that an employee could not be fired for good reason, bad reason, or no reason at all. All 50 states have at-will employment, which means that an employer can fire an employee for any reason or for no reason so long as the reason isn't because the employee is a member of a protected class (e.g., race). At-will employment means an employee can quit for any reason or for no reason. This covers most employers and employees; the only ones it might not apply to are those with employment contracts that spell out the grounds for termination. Otherwise, at-will employment law governs, and there is no due process.
7