however the word of someone claiming they personally are being marginalized and victimized should generally be given more weight than someone else claiming that that person isn't. No it absolutely should not, and the applications that we've seen when this framework of thought is proof enough of what happens when we give the victim more legal weight than the accused.
Title IX is a perfect example of this flawed implementation of "justice" to the point where the victims receive all the benefits of due process, but the accused does not. Taking the victim at their word is preposterous and absolutely and wholly contrary to the way our legal framework was designed, and ought to work:
Quote:
"OCR’s language implies
that the rights of accused students at public colleges do not merit lengthy
discussion and further suggests by negative implication that accused have any rights at all.57 The Letter also states that “[w]hen taking steps to
separate the complainant and alleged perpetrator, a school should
minimize the burden on the complainant, and thus should not, as a matter
of course, remove complainants from classes or housing while allowing
alleged perpetrators to remain.” In other words, alleged perpetrators
should automatically suffer life-upending punishments like expulsion from
their residences upon accusation because they are likely guilty. The
writing on the wall from this treatment of due process rights is
unmistakable: it implies, “oddly and ominously, that the statutory rights of
the accuser trump the constitutional due-process [sic] rights of the
accused.”"
Source:
"A HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT FOR STUDENT DEFENDANTS: TITLE IX AND SEXUAL ASSAULT ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES" (http://chaselaw.nku.edu/content/dam/chaselaw/docs/academics/...) p.61 pp.2 - p62 pp.1
You can absolutely have a civil discourse on how sexism manifests itself in the video game industry and others, and misogynist violence is absolutely never okay. But once we get to the point where conversations depend on giving one person more credence than another simply because of their status, or role in the affair, we're entering very dangerous waters.
One such example of the treacherous possibilities comes from the events of October 2012 at Ohio University where two students publicly engaged in lewd acts, photographs showed the female participant smiling, engaging and interacting with the male participant, and still cried rape to the detriment of the male participant even when local law enforcement could not find evidence to indict;
Source: http://www.mindingthecampus.com/2013/11/is_this_a_campus_rap...
No.
No we do NOT give the accuser "more weight".