In "Sorry Lessons," her latest blog post for Justia.com, Professor Lesley Wexler discusses the failure of both individuals and institutions to provide the kinds of apologies that their victims and their communities seek. She considers not just the most recent examples of sexual harassment that have been so pervasive in the news, but also civilian victims of airstrikes as well as other human rights violations.
Wexler points to Canada as an example of how to best handle such an apology from the top down. In one section, she contrasts the vague apologies of the celebrities Charlie Rose and Harvey Weinstein with the much more specific apologies of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.
"Apologies are about recognizing the dignity of individuals, their capacity to suffer pain, and appreciating the inherent importance of such. The failure to directly acknowledge the individuals that were hurt undermines this purpose," Wexler said.
Full post at verdict.justia.com