WARNING: This article contains references to sexual abuse and may affect people who have been abused or know someone affected by it.
Andrea Constand is used to media scrutiny. The Canadian athlete turned author – and now a registered massage therapist – has seen and heard her name in the news for years.
While it was initially because of her track record as an amateur and professional basketball player, over the past 5 years it’s been because of something else: the only woman to witness the fox. His sexual assault on American comedian Bill Cosby led to a criminal trial.
“I’m really lucky to have other women come forward with their own bravery,” Constand said in a recent interview with CBC News. “And I’ve stood by them – my approach is to do it for them, serve and claim justice where they can’t get it.”
Constand is back in the spotlight once again, but not by focusing on Cosby, who insists he is innocent. Instead, her documentary series The case against Cosby (which premiered on CBC Gem on Sunday) focuses more on others who have accused him, as well as her work as an advocate for survivors of the attack sex.
While sitting to testify in the civil case of Andrea Constand, Cosby admitted to drugging women to have sex with them.
“It’s not an easy story to tell. My story upsets a lot of people, and hurts a lot of people,” she said. “But I think we did very well.”
Constand is one of more than 60 women who allege that Cosby, now 85, assaulted them during his six-decade career and in 2018 he was convicted of drugging and assaulting them. Hung Constand in 2004.
But in 2021, Cosby’s conviction was overturned and he was released from prison when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors were bound by the district attorney’s previous agreement not to charge him. about Constand’s allegations.
Constand’s documentary, partly based on her book Moment: Stand With Bill Cosby, Speak Up for Women and made with Canadian director Karen Wookey, is not the first documentary about the controversy. miniseries We need to talk about Cosby look back at the comedian.
Their project chronicles this process as a handful of women accused the comedian of rallying to retreat with doctor and trauma specialist Gabor Maté. Constand said one of the documentary’s main goals is not to reiterate their allegations but to show how each person grapples with trauma.
“It was unbelievable. It was so profound,” she said of the experience. “And it’s going to be something I’ll never forget in my life, that weekend with the women.”
Cosby’s team did not respond to a request for comment from CBC News about the documentary. In an earlier comment to the Canadian Press about The case against Cosbyhis attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, stated that “it appears to begin with a false premise, namely that Mr. Cosby has been convicted.”
“Mr Cosby was not convicted of any crime against any of the accusers, including Mrs Constand,” she said.
Cosby faces lawsuits from several women
Wookey says Constand’s journey is part of her reason for wanting to join the project — though not the only one.
“First is Andrea’s extraordinary story, including a legal story, an adventure,” as well as “understanding the minds of perpetrators and how they work,” she said.
The third reason, Wookey says, “is to understand trauma and why when something like this happens to someone, they don’t get over it.”
The case against Cosby rolled out amid a flurry of other news about the comedian. Cosby was sued for sexual abuse in New York earlier this month, following similar lawsuits filed by five other women in December.
Cosby has also announced its intention to hold a comedy tour this spring or summer. This will be his first tour since 2015, when he made several stops in Ontario. spark moderate protests and heck.
“Let him try,” Wookey said when asked how she feels about the planned tour. “I hope that the world is a different place… and I think he will see that the world has changed a bit if that happens – if that happens. I have my doubts.”
For its part, Constand says — as with their documentary — should not focus on Cosby at all.
“I feel if anyone deserves a comeback tour, it’s all women,” she said. “Those are the 60+ Cosby women out there whose lives are broken.”
Support is available to anyone who has been sexually assaulted. You can access crisis helplines and local support services through this page Government of Canada website or The Canadian Association to End Violence Database. If you are in danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.
