MORGANE OGER HAS TURNED ON YANIV AND LINKS LOUISE'S ARTICLE
I have dreaded writing this article for the months I have considered it. My advisors recommend against it but I feel it is necessary. It is not with levity I use the word predator literally
morganeoger.ca
http://archive.li/l4EYA
have dreaded writing this article for the months I have considered it. The people who advise me recommend against it but I feel it is necessary. Holding this knowledge while vetting it has kept me up at night and it is not with levity I use the word predator literally.
People in marginalized communities are extremely sensitive to the misbehaviour of their own, especially when it reinforces prejudice. The instinct to band together and be unyielding is strong, and I reject the prejudice that surrounds this story. Sometimes we resist exposing difficult conversations to the outside. Jessica Yaniv is forcing such an awful conversation.
None of the allegations I write about today have been proven or ruled on by a court. This article is based entirely on eyewitness accounts, which are always highly subjective.
I wish it wasn’t a transgender person or someone saying they are part of the LGBTQ+ community who has been doing what Jessica Yaniv has reportedly been doing for years – as far back as 2013.
I am mindful that it doesn’t matter what Yaniv’s gender is or how she got to where se is. It is valid and that’s not a debating point for me. We are all entitled to the same legal protection and process when facing allegations, especially accusations related to awful conduct – especially towards children.
I know that with over 150,000 transgender persons in Canada, it is inevitable that some of us misbehave. Transgender and non-binary persons are artists, housewives, doctors, a judge, politicians, chronically underemployed, professionals, and blue-collar workers. Like other communities, ours also features a number who are cheaters, predators, liars rapists, pedophiles, pimps, and others who do harmful things. Knowing the correlation between marginalization and suppression and individual acts of misbehaviour, I would not be surprised to learn the proportion of miscreants who are transgender is higher than the general population. It usually is with oppressed groups.
But the things that people have told me Jessica Yaniv has done to them are awful and can’t be swept out of our consciousness. Awful things have been reported and need to be taken seriously.
I met Jessica Yaniv at an event where I appeared as speaker. I had just been on a panel on transgender rights after performing in the cast of
Trans Scripts Part 1: The Womenat The Cultch in Vancouver and after the Q & A she and I had a very brief chat. Yaniv brought up something about human rights cases and an interest in standing up for transgender rights. I encourage transgender people to fight for our rights and to force difficult conversations out into the open I encouraged any valid complaint being filed to get the difficult conversation started.
This post is also about difficult conversations: the conversation we need to have to address mortifying misdeeds in our own communities.
Some time after that first conversation I learned more about the specifics of Yaniv’s actions and her history and actions. In the only other conversation with her when she called me at my Trans Alliance Society number in early 2019 I advised her that she did not seem to me to be the appropriatd person to fight for trans women’s rights to services for women – on the basis of her documented past history.
With the help of other women who pointed the way in recent months, I tracked down and heard witnesses with first-person accounts of Jessica’s online behaviour spanning 2013 to 2018.
Their stories included reports and evidence of outrageously inappropriate acts, some towards children who are tweens and teens. Some of the material has survived as screenshots, and what I saw shows what strikes me as a pattern of predatory behaviour. I am not in law enforcement or a lawyer but as the mom of kids under 14 I was horrified by what the women told me happened and I believe them.
Understandably, some of the women I spoke to have come to hold a deep concern about my community based on Yaniv’s actions. Some have even processed their experience as hatred of my community. I understand how they got there, and I hope their bias fades in time. Others have thankfully seen through this all despite of the trauma that was inflicted on them and seen an individual doing harmful things and nothing more.
I spoke to four women. Three of whom had awful experiences with Jessica Yaniv. All were young women and girls at the time.
They are all adults now. I urged each woman to make a complaint with police on the basis of the things they said happened. I hope this has an effect and with enough police reports there may be a case.
Regardless of anyone’s race, gender identity, sexual orientation, or other characteristic protected from discrimination, everyone is equally accountable for any harm we do. I mourn the fact that the wrath in social media about this one person has centered on her transgender status, and decry the actions of people who were so focused on that fact rather than focusing on getting to the bottom and helping alleged victims deal access justice and support. I regret some did lasting damage by spreading false information.
It is not lost on me that transphobic anger brought this matter to my attention in the first place, and only by targeting me personally. I wonder if the hatred helped or hindered this all. I suspect we will never know. I deeply regret the harmful behaviour of some people, and that includes the ones aimed at my community. If only mindsets were not easily driven to hatred by people manipulating affirmation bias…
Anyone in a marginalized community (or claiming to be in one) is entitled to live without discrimination because of who they are. At the same time, nobody gets to behave like Yaniv has been documented to have consistently behaved until recently – no matter what their mental health or gender identity is. Whether there is a mental health matter at play or pure mischief, nobody can expect to interact with children like I have heard testimony that Yaniv did without rightfully facing justice or accessing treatment.
Amanda Todd’s tragedy taught us a great deal about the damage a predator can cause to a child without actually touching them.
This is why we have laws addressing online predators. Our society has put in place laws and policies in place to help protect us all from the things I have heard testimony about. It is possible people can change and that this is all behind us. However, Yaniv seems to be still engaging in
programs that target young women and is actively campaigning about the topic of
menstrual products and girls, the focus of years of her negative behaviour. Yaniv’s recent public appearance in front of municipal policymakers motivated writing this piece.
To my knowledge Yaniv has not addressed her widely-documented past behaviour and this info itself is cause for concern. I believe sometimes people can change, but I see no signs of this having happened.
Were you or someone you know affected by predatorial online behaviour?
Do you feel it was more than one of those awful-and-far-too-common short-lived creepy moment? If so, the appropriate place to complain to is your local police. Also notifying a community advocate can’t hurt.
I’d like to take a moment to express my gratitude to the women who trusted me enough to share their experience with me and with the competent authorities. I appreciate that in communities that consider mine with distrust or worse, my reputation as a trans rights activist proceeds me. I will continue to stand up for equality and inclusion. Human rights exist for a reason: assuring out society treats everyone equally.
Here are some useful links:
https://l-ou-ise.com/breaking-silence
http://mediasmarts.ca/sexual-exploitation/online-sexual-predators
https://www.cybeffrtip.ca/app/en/
https://www.ncdoj.gov/getdoc/3bda0f2f-3488-4e1a-a409-42a8c149a8d8/Online-Predators.aspx
https://www.ncdoj.gov/getdoc/3bda0f2f-3488-4e1a-a409-42a8c149a8d8/Online-Predators.aspx
