Chapter 1: What content warning is provided for this episode?
Something Was Wrong is intended for mature audiences and discusses topics that may be upsetting. This season discusses sexual, physical and psychological violence. Please consume the following episodes with care. For a full content warning, sources and resources for each individual episode, please visit the episode notes.
Opinions shared by the guests of the show are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Broken Cycle Media. The podcast and any linked materials should not be misconstrued as a substitution for legal or medical advice.
Thank you so much for listening. You don't know anybody till you talk to someone.
Last time on Something Was Wrong.
We matched on Tinder the spring of 2017. The messaging was very brief and maybe a few months prior to when I actually met him. The only time I ever met him in person was the night that he raped me. By that Sunday evening, the 28th of May now, I had come to terms with it and was ready to take steps. I made contact with Title IX because the school's victim advocate's office directed me to them.
He was mad. And I think it was a case of, if she's going to take me down, I'm taking her down with me. Then that began the next phase of Justin's retaliatory behavior. They found him, of course, not responsible due to insufficient evidence.
The policy stated that if I wanted to appeal this decision, I think it was something like three days that you had to decide if you wanted to do a hearing or not. I notified them that I would like to appeal to a hearing. My hearing was around Thanksgiving time of 2017. I was told that it would really be better for my credibility if I showed up to the hearing because I wanted to phone it in.
I wanted to zoom into that thing. I did not want to be there. I did not want to see him in person. I did not want to be in the same room with him. And did he show up? He did. I show up to this big building, which is at the center of Western University. It's like the initial buildings of the university. So they're all very old and they're made of stone.
And that's where the president, all the vice presidents of the university have their offices. And that's where the office of the general counsel is, as well as the room where my hearing was held. We had to go through metal detectors, which I thought was an unsettling note to an already unsettling situation. My lawyer was with me. His lawyer was with him.
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Chapter 2: How does the guest describe their experience with Title IX?
This means I was not the stereotypical perfect victim. I am upset and disheartened that the OEO seems to have expected me to fit this perfect victim profile and behavior. I am baffled that the two text messages seem to have discounted all the other facts and evidence that I provided to the OEO.
I explained the reasons I sent the text, and yet those two texts remain the downfall of me receiving justice and closure in what Justin did to me. You now have the reasons and scientific information available to you to help you understand the reasons that compelled me to send two text messages to Justin. I urge you to review my appeal and the research that supports my reasoning.
I feel that the OEO made the decision that two texts held more weight than the forensic exam I received and the laceration inside my vagina and the bite marks on my collarbone and the strangulation I endured, not to mention my statement and story.
Members of the hearing committee, I do not have much of a statement for you today as you have seen and read all the evidence and there is not much more context I can give other than to answer any specific questions you may have. The OEO found insufficient evidence based on two simple texts and my statement is as simple. Justin raped me. During our encounter, I asked Justin to stop hurting me.
I told him that I had experienced sexual assault before and what he was doing was scaring me, hurting me, and reminding me of those experiences. Justin did not stop. He proceeded to strangle me and penetrate me despite me requesting that he not. I did not know how to process what had happened to me, nor did I know what to do about it the morning after.
So I prioritized his appeasement and my safety over appearing like the perfect victim. In that moment, getting justice for myself was not even on my mind. Distancing myself from a violent rapist was my first priority and a decision that I stand by because it kept me safe.
The rape was so violent that I went on to receive an exam in order to understand the impact of the rape, to obtain evidence, and to go through all the proper proceedings to make sure I was healthy. I continued to go to follow up doctor's appointments for further testing and care as a result of my rape.
Through all these avenues, I was able to process what had happened to me and accept that Justin truly raped me. I'm extremely disappointed in the finding and I believe, just as the OEO did, you have enough evidence in front of you to restore justice to this case and to me. I can answer any questions you have now. And what, if any, questions did they ask you?
I don't recall the committee asking me too many questions. It was more the cross-examination from Justin's attorney, which was not as commonplace as it is now in Title IX systems.
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Chapter 3: What steps did the guest take after the assault?
When I was in the hospital, they ask you to list what medicines you're on. And so I include all of my supplements in that list of medication. I am not on any prescription medicine for my mental health, nor was I at the time, nor have I ever been. And it's totally fine if you are. There's nothing wrong with that. That's a good thing to seek help and support for anything that you're going through.
But that wasn't my experience. But the way that they redacted it, it was like line by line. This wasn't something that I found out until... reading Dr. Badera's book and speaking with her later on, is that what they were looking for was trying to trip me up, essentially, that I was on some sort of psychiatric medication, that I had been drinking, which I hadn't been. I don't drink.
I don't do drugs. I don't take prescription medication. All my friends, even my acquaintances, know this about me.
And was he drinking that night? Yes. Was that noted in the report, that you were sober and he had been drinking? I tried to point that out.
But yeah, he was like a dog after a bone, that lawyer, about these medications, like asking me what I had to drink, asking me what psychiatric medication I'm on.
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Chapter 4: How did the university respond to the allegations?
So it didn't land for me because I was like, what is this man after? There's nothing there. On my side of the room, there was a picture of a ballet major dancing in this specific studio where I danced every day. And it was just kind of like a beacon of hope for me or like a sign from the universe that this too shall pass.
So apparently they did decide that day, but we don't find out about it until I think it was like December 21st. I was at home on Christmas break when I received my hearing finding.
How did you find out? Was that over email as well?
Yes, they upheld the original decision. The date of issue is December 5th, 2017. Report and recommendation regarding hearing on OEO complaint of Allegra against Justin. Pursuant to policy and procedure 1-012, a hearing was held on November 29th, 2017 at 9 a.m. in a name of this boardroom, in a name of this building, to consider the complaint of Allegra against Justin.
The hearing was conducted according to the procedures set forth in Western University Policy 1-012, University Non-Discrimination Policy and its Related Rules and Procedures.
After initial presentation by the OEO consultation on this case, about the investigation and process, about the findings and conclusions contained in the OEO reports, each party was permitted to make opening and closing statements, testify, present documents and witnesses, ask questions and comment on the issues at the hearing.
The committee's charge was to determine whether the preponderance of the evidence supports the OEO AA's conclusion that insufficient evidence exists to find Justin violated University Policy 1-012. The committee has prepared the following report of its findings and recommendations. Then it lists the panel members and what position they held.
I had two women who were staff members and then the one student that was male that I knew. And so one staff member was an associate accountant and the second was an administrative assistant. The committee members reviewed all the documents presented and considered the information provided by the OEO consultant and by the parties, their advisors and witnesses during the hearing.
By unanimous decision of three people, by the way, the committee concurs with the OEOAA's finding with regard to Allegra's complaint against Justin that there is insufficient evidence that the respondent violated Western University's policy 1-012. In this case, the committee found by a unanimous vote that the complainant's conduct may have indicated consent.
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Chapter 5: What challenges did the guest face during the hearing process?
What led to this decision was evidence in the text messages provided by the concerned parties and witness testimony indicating that there was a conversation on the night of the incident in question about the use of a condom, whether Justin had been tested for STDs and Allegra's IUD, implying that there was discussion about having penetrative sex before the act itself.
And Allegra's contact, according to the text messages provided explicitly, indicated her consent. Additionally, the results of the sexual assault examination performed by the same nurse proved inconclusive and that the laceration on Allegra's vagina could have come from anything, quote.
The majority of the committee felt that the inconsistencies in Allegra's and Justin's testimonies were significant to the point that it was impossible to decide who was telling the truth. This led to the decision that the complainant failed to produce a preponderance of the evidence that the action occurred.
Therefore, the committee recommends the finding of insufficient evidence be entered and that no sanctions be imposed against Justin. In conclusion, the committee wishes to express appreciation for participation of the parties, their advisors, and their witnesses in this process. All of these terms like the complainant's conduct may have indicated consent.
Discussion of condom, STI testing, my birth control shows that there was discussion about having penetrative sex before the act itself. Not true. The discussion about STIs and my IUD happened the next day. Those were in the May 28th text messages. And that those text messages explicitly indicated her consent. Those were after the fact. That's not consent in the moment.
And then the letter that went along with it. Dear Allegra and Justin, I received and reviewed the December 5th, 2017 report and recommendations of the OEO hearing committee on the complaint Allegra filed against Justin. I also received the documents and other evidence presented at the November 29th, 2017 hearing.
Having considered these materials, I accept the committee's decision with regard to Allegra's complaint against Justin that there was insufficient evidence that the respondent violated Western University Policy 1-012.
You both have the right to appeal this decision to the president of the university by submitting a written request for appeal within five calendar days after receiving this decision. If no written request for appeal is submitted within five days, this will be the final decision of the university. Best wishes, sincerely, the vice president of the university at the time.
I received that on December 21st. That is four days before Christmas. With five calendar days, I would have had to appeal to the president of the university by December 26th. I think what's so criminal about that is expecting survivors to make these heart-wrenching, super difficult decisions.
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