Harvey Weinstein guilty verdict is a 'monumental win' for women, says accuser

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The conviction of Harvey Weinstein on rape and sexual assault is a signal that there are consequences for the powerful, says Katherine Kendall, one of the first women to accuse the ex-movie mogul of sexual misconduct. 

On Monday, a jury found Weinstein guilty of raping former actress Jessica Mann in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and of sexually assaulting production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006. 

The jury did not find him guilty on the most serious charges: two counts of predatory sexual assault. 

Weinstein still faces four criminal charges in Los Angeles. He is accused of sexually assaulting two women during Oscars week in 2013. 

Kendall, 50, is among the more than 80 woman who have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct. She told PBS that in 1993 she was in Weinstein's apartment when he came out of the bathroom, wearing a robe, and asked her for a massage. In another instance, she says he came out of the bathroom naked and asked her to show him her breasts. 

Kendall spoke with As It Happens Carol Off about her reaction to the guilty verdict. Here is part of their conversation. 

How did it feel to hear that Harvey Weinstein was declared guilty?

It's incredible. It feels like a monumental win for victims and for the women that I know and that I've met that have been on this journey. It's a really big day. I am emotional talking about it even now.

I was so trained for a "not guilty" because everyone told me … that's the way it usually goes and it's really hard to prosecute and, you know, prove rape. And there was a lot of victim blaming going on during that trial. I was there. I saw it and I was really concerned.

I was preparing to feel defeated.

One of the accusers in this New York trial, Annabella Sciorra — you described the difficulty of the testimonies and the cross-examination — hers was quite extraordinary. And yet the decision was to find Mr. Weinstein not guilty on the charge of predatory sexual assault … she was included in those charges as a victim. What did that mean to you? 

It's shocking because, I mean, I was there. 

I watched her and listened to her testimony and I thought she was incredible. And I don't know how you could be in that room and listen to her and not believe her. I think it has to do with the statute of limitations and that still really needs to be changed and looked at. I don't think it has to do with not believing her testimony. 

We were all worried about the fact that the predatory count ... that he wouldn't be guilty of that.

We were concerned, but we all know in our hearts that he is a predator.

This is someone who never saw a consequence. So I think that if we can see that there are consequences for him, that women everywhere are going to start to feel safer. And that everyone will start to take all of this more seriously.-  Katherine Kendall

When we spoke with you as the trial began in January, you talked about the other two women, Miriam Haley and Jessica Mann, and you were saying to us that you felt so grateful to them for taking on the burden of going to court. When you look at what they went through, how difficult do you think this trial has been for them? 

I think that both of those women are incredible, like, heroes. You know, I think that both of them knew that this was complicated. They weren't lying to themselves about that. They knew that going in. But they were both really sure that they had been, you know, at the hands of a predator.

I think that they were prepared, which is incredible, because they were walking into the world looking at their lives and and taking apart their lives in a way that we seem to only do with victims of sexual assault. 

We just look at ... whoever the victim is and we we don't really tear apart the life of the perpetrator and their history.

And I think it's incredibly brave of women to go forward knowing that people are going to be commenting on the validity of one of the most painful things that could have ever happened to them.

If you could speak to them, Miriam Haley or Jessica Mann, right now, what would you say? 

I would say that you have changed the world. That the risk you took was worth it. That I have been here with you the whole way. And I will always be here with you. And that you are absolute heroines.

Do you think that the entertainment industry has … changed at all? 

I think it has to have changed.

This is someone who never saw a consequence. So I think that if we can see that there are consequences for him, that women everywhere are going to start to feel safer. And that everyone will start to take all of this more seriously. 

Written by Sarah Jackson with files from The Associated Press. Interview produced by Kate Swoger. Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.