Defamation as a Sword: The Weaponization of Civil Liability against Sexual Assault Survivors in the Post-#MeToo Era

Abstract

When the #MeToo movement gained popularity in 2017, the impact that it would have on how societies perceive sexual violence against women was unpredictable. In the midst of the female empowerment and support that the hashtag cultivated, a legal phenomenon was brewing in the form of retaliatory defamation lawsuits from men accused in this modern wave of sexual assault allegations. This analysis features a step-by-step breakdown of the life of a defamation lawsuit filed against a sexual assault survivor making an online sexual assault disclosure and explores this increasingly popular intimidation tactic. In doing so, I illustrate the way in which Canadian defamation law, though well suited to its predetermined purpose, is wholly inappropriate when applied to a #MeToo context, where it essentially becomes used to litigate sexual assault claims in a manner that disadvantages survivors and inadvertently reinforces rape myths in the legal analysis.