Last year, the divorce of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard made headlines because of domestic abuse accusations against the former. Many called bullsh*t on the claims, including comedian Doug Stanhope, and painted Amber as a lying gold-digger.

As we’ve mentioned before, this is a sad justification for a woman who’s clearly calling for help. That as long as there are people who are making excuses for abusers, victims will feel discouraged to speak up. With that, we commend Amber for doing so amid the hate and criticism.

But earlier this week, their divorce was brought up once again. This time because Johnny’s former management revealed that he had “violently kicked” and “gotten physical” with Amber.

“[Joel Mandel, one of the managers,] was informed well after the fact through communications with various house staff and security that Depp had been extremely volatile and had sometimes ‘gotten physical’ with Heard,” the management said in a statement.

In hindsight, this is great because it’ll help Amber’s case against her ex-husband. But what’s bothersome is how people are now paying more attention because someone else confirmed it. And that someone is a man.

You can call it mere coincidence. But didn’t these people listen when photos of Amber’s bruises were released? How about when she was seen leaving a court room with a visible bruise? And I’m sure you’ve seen that video where Johnny hurled a wine glass at her.

Despite all these factors, there were still skeptical comments on Amber’s claims. Why, because she’s a woman? And suddenly, her words started to matter to the majority when a man corroborated her story?

It’s still a sad reality that the influence of men is still considered greater than women’s. A study on gender and social influence noted that both genders of different age groups were more likely to listen and be persuaded by male experts. It also highlighted how women have exert lesser influence.

How are we going to battle domestic abuse and even rape culture when there’s still this disparity between genders? Several women can’t have justice because no one is listening to their pleas. Just look at Bill Cosby’s infuriating mistrial.

The moment people stop thinking that women are always overreacting or that they aren’t worth the attention is when we start helping them. No woman deserves to be silenced or placed in the backseat because men are deemed more important than them.

Photo courtesy of Hello! Magazine

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