Harvey Weinstein, the owner of Miramax, has been charged for rape and several sexual assault charges, currently facing 23 years in prison. Recently, it was revealed with accompanying graphic evidence and testimonies that Weinstein suffered from a shocking condition: Fournier's Gangrene.
Gangrene is usually thought of as a condition affecting the toes or fingers due to a lack of blood flow and infection. However, Fournier's Gangrene is more extreme; severely affecting Weinstein's genitals.
Rape victim Jessica Mann testified that she first thought the producer might be intersex, lacked testes, and 'appeared to have scarring as if from burns in his nether region'. She admitted that in 2013, the two shared a real yet very degrading relationship.
After Harvey's mother died, he told Jessica that 'he needed to be consoled for his grief.' When she arrived at his hotel room, that was when she was raped. When she went into the bathroom, she saw a needle in the trash can and Googled it after. 'I don't remember the medical term (on the label), but when I Googled it, it basically implied (erectile dysfunction medication),' Jessica said.
Fournier's Gangrene
Harvey's condition was the result of an infection that resulted in Weinstein being medevaced out of St. Barts Hospital in 1999. ' At the time, Harvey blamed something he ate. But for years after, the tracheotomy scar from the scary, near-death experience was impossible to hide.'
Fournier's gangrene is a rare, acute infection in the scrotum that would affect middle-aged, diabetic men. Harvey is also suffering from Type 2 diabetes and recently tested positive for coronavirus yet remains asymptomatic.
Several ways cause infection including urinary tract and bladder infections, hysterectomies, and abscesses or swollen body tissue containing pus. Candidates struck with Fournier's Gangrene usually have diabetes, trauma to the genital area, use steroids, are obese, have HIV, and may have liver disease (cirrhosis).
What Jessica saw in the bathroom was most likely Caverject, a drug that helps with blood flow to achieve and maintain an erection. His deteriorated sexual function is also the result of his condition and paraplegics have no function from the waist down. Once Caverject is injected directly into the penis, an erection can last for up to an hour after taking effect.
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Sex Crime Victims
Harvey wrote in a public statement in 2017 that 'My body has trauma. Vets tell me I have PTSD. 'Weinstein is facing 23-year years in prison for third-degree rape and a criminal sexual act. There are also additional charges a civil suit alleging two rapes and two additional sexual assaults.
Miriam Haleyi, one of Harvey's victims, said that 'It gives me hope that we're making progress. ... And I just feel like we're being educated about the reality of sexual assault and sexual assault victims ... and that a lot of sexual assault victims do know their attacker and do have some sort of relation with that person, and that brings a whole other layer of emotional confusion.' All the women who came forward helped spark a movement #MeToo which publicizes the sex crimes of powerful and prominent men.