Statement on sexual harm by New Zealand composer Jack Body: Victoria University of Wellington

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John Young

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Jan 20, 2022, 3:21:38 PM1/20/22
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Dear CEC Conference members,
The statement in the link below would not normally be a topic for this list, but Jack Body (1944-2015) was a New Zealand composer of electroacoustic music with many connections around the world.
After the announcement of a memorial fund in Body's name by his former employer, the Victoria University of Wellington / Te Herenga Waka, many former students raised concerns about it with claims of sexual abuse by Body.

Following investigation through an extended restorative justice process the university has upheld these claims. In the statement the university makes a formal apology to the harmed individuals and takes full responsibility for allowing the harms to occur and continue over three decades.
This is a significant step from an institution in which sexual exploitation of students has taken place. The unfortunate reality is that such harms have many direct and indirect consequences in and out of an institution and which resonate over extended periods. With that in mind I hope this statement has some value to others.


John

John Young
Professor of Composition
Head of Research Students - MTI2 Institute for Sonic Creativity
Programme Leader - MA in Music, Technology and Innovation
De Montfort University
Leicester LE1 9BH, UK


"Music is at the heart of the DMU curriculum and its research, as it should be.  But increasingly we discover its power to connect across disciplines and with developing technologies, to create exciting new ideas and possibilities in many fields."
Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon (Chancellor, DMU).

Erin Gee

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Jan 20, 2022, 3:42:15 PM1/20/22
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Thank you for sharing.

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Paul Clouvel

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Jan 20, 2022, 5:11:38 PM1/20/22
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personally I do not understand why the CEC relays this kind of information.

ok there is an official statement from the university, but until proven otherwise no trial or this person can defend himself because he died.

Sorry to react like a Frenchman, but in my country, a person who has not been convicted by a court is presumed innocent.

The declaration of the university acts as a judgment whereas the university is not a judge.

Moreover, the statement of the university does not mention any name of any victim, does not relate any specific fact.

I'm not saying that nothing happened, but it reads "people said that...", and there is no one in front to answer.

Sorry for my reaction because the law is not the same in France as in Canada, but in France, sharing this kind of information without judgment in court is liable to a conviction for "public insults".

And frankly I don't see what that has to do with this discussion list.

Le 20 janv. 2022 à 21:42, Erin Gee <erin.ma...@gmail.com> a écrit :



Alana Marta DeVito

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Jan 20, 2022, 6:27:45 PM1/20/22
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I appreciate the share very much. Thank you.

 

a

 

<<<>*<>*<<<>*<<<>>>*<>>>*<>*<>>>

Mx. AM DeVito (they/them)
composer | sound designer | digital art
P. 438.464.1244
Montreal, QC
amdev...@gmail.com
insta: @am.devito
web: www.amdevito.com

<<<>*<>*<<<>*<<<>>>*<>>>*<>*<>>>

CEC jef chippewa

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Jan 20, 2022, 6:46:03 PM1/20/22
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Hi Paul, thanks for your comments. On behalf of the CEC I would like
to clarify that this is not information relayed by the CEC, but rather
by an individual member of an open email list that is not
administered, managed or edited by the CEC.

I am not aware of any official protocol as to what may or may not be
shared on this particular forum, aside from an informal suggestion to
prioritize information related to electroacoustic practices and the
various extended EA communities around the globe.

Kind regards,
jef chippewa
Administrative co-Director
Canadian Electroacoustic Community


it would appear that the following was said by Paul Clouvel:

> personally I do not understand why the CEC relays this kind of information.
>
> ok there is an official statement from the university, but until
> proven otherwise no trial or this person can defend himself because
> he died.
>
> Sorry to react like a Frenchman, but in my country, a person who has
> not been convicted by a court is presumed innocent.
>
> The declaration of the university acts as a judgment whereas the
> university is not a judge.
>
> Moreover, the statement of the university does not mention any name
> of any victim, does not relate any specific fact.
>
> I'm not saying that nothing happened, but it reads "people said
> that...", and there is no one in front to answer.
>
> Sorry for my reaction because the law is not the same in France as
> in Canada, but in France, sharing this kind of information without
> judgment in court is liable to a conviction for "public insults".
>
> And frankly I don't see what that has to do with this discussion list.



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Kevin Austin

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Jan 20, 2022, 10:19:44 PM1/20/22
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WITHOUT PREJUDICE


Good evening

I write here as the founder and one of the two administrators of the GoogleGroups list, <cec-conference>.

I am not not a lawyer.

cec-conference is a Google Groups list, hosted by Google: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Groups. It is a successor to the original cecdiscuss email list set up about 1995, which was hosted at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. 
The Wikipedia article begins: Google Groups is a service from Google Google Groups, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google

The list was set up with the acknowledgment of the CEC, and is formally recognized as a non-CEC project. The list setup option is that posting is not moderated. In the past 25+ years there have been [as far as I recall] only one or two subjects / occasions when a posting elicited strong disagreement / negative response.

In most circumstances when there was concern about the possibility of ‘uncontrolled’ public response, I have written privately to the posters directly involved and asked if they wished to pursue the discussion in a public or closed forum. From my experience, the international electroacoustic community is a very tolerant bringing together of human beings. For this, I am personally deeply grateful.

John Young is a respected long-standing member of this community, as is Paul Clouvel.

As one of the two list administrators, I personally do not have difficulty with deeply held, informed opinion.

My experience is that this list self-regulates regarding subjects and topics, and only on one or two occasions have I been concerned that a topic may not relate directly enough to the international electroacoustic community. However, I have allowed the natural tendency of this list to self-regulate, and only if there have been repeated attempts to ‘force’ an issue onto the list, have I taken administrative action.


Best wishes to all.


Kevin Austin
cec-conference list administrator

Montréal, QC, CANADA

Miriama Young

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Jan 20, 2022, 10:33:32 PM1/20/22
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Thank you John for spreading the word on this important case, this resolution has certainly been a long time coming.



Dr Miriama Young | Associate Director (Research) | Senior Lecturer in Music (Composition)  

 

Melbourne Conservatorium of Music | Faculty of Fine Arts & Music
Level 5, Ian Potter Southbank Centre (Room 506)

Building 880, 43 Sturt St, Southbank
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E: miriam...@unimelb.edu.au | T: +61 3 8344 8241

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To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cec-conference/822B2614-69A5-4735-AB24-DAF12320375D%40videotron.ca.

Ross Davidson

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Jan 21, 2022, 8:54:10 AM1/21/22
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Hi,

Thanks for sharing this John. It strikes me that this is pertinent to share to others in the community of electroacoustic composition, as neglecting to do so risks wilful blindness to real issues and dangers that exist within this field. It’s important that we are aware that a highly regarded reputation as a composer is by no means mutually incompatible with abuse of power. Disregarding this will perpetuate the circumstances for similar abuses to continue behind a shield of wilfully ignorant colleagues and peers.

Paul, I would encourage you to consider how difficult it is for historic sexual abuse to be proven in court. Not only do the survivors have to go through a process that puts them at high risk of being re-traumatised - which often prevents cases from even getting reported to police in the first place - but they then have to prove something beyond reasonable doubt, which is incredibly difficult in such historic cases. Judicial systems across the globe are heavily weighted against successful convictions of abusers. 

Survivors also have the right to anonymity. Furthermore, whether or not their names are publicly revealed should not impact on the extent to which we perceive their statements as truthful.

As outlined above, and as I believe John clarified in his original email, this unfortunately is relevant to share in our community, however uncomfortable it may be to look in the face.

Best wishes,
Ross

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John Young

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Jan 24, 2022, 11:59:35 AM1/24/22
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Dear Paul, and others,
As I tried to explain, one reason I posted this is because the process used by the university was a very sensitive one: a restorative process that was not conducted as a trial but to acknowledge experience—something explicitly stated to participants.  I am sure that, had the named individual been living, a different path would have certainly been taken. It was apparent that there were not effective processes in place when in fact concerns were raised at the time. Furthermore, media reports and social media responses that preceded and ultimately prompted this restorative process did show that there was wider awareness and concern about this person's actions (including outside of the institution itself).

The focus in this instance remained on creating a space for acknowledgement and resolution for those harmed—the parties too often forgotten.
On that basis, given the educational setting and in particular that it is a performing arts/creative one where people work closely together and often one-to-one, I do defend the statement and its relevance to this list. So often people harmed in this way feel isolated and vulnerable—coming forward is not very easy when someone is in that position.

Sometimes an entire community has to take a serious look at itself and this institution has done that in a way which many would see as being very much to its credit (bearing in mind that an institution is not just rules and processes, but people).

Other than that I would politely suggest that waving nationality in a 'we-know-what's-right' way is seldom helpful and never tasteful.

All good wishes,
John



John Young
Professor of Composition
Head of Research Students - MTI2 Institute for Sonic Creativity
Programme Leader - MA in Music, Technology and Innovation
De Montfort University
Leicester LE1 9BH, UK


"Music is at the heart of the DMU curriculum and its research, as it should be.  But increasingly we discover its power to connect across disciplines and with developing technologies, to create exciting new ideas and possibilities in many fields."
Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon (Chancellor, DMU).

Sent: 20 January 2022 10:11 PM

To: cec-con...@googlegroups.com <cec-con...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [cec-c] Statement on sexual harm by New Zealand composer Jack Body: Victoria University of Wellington
 
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David Hirst

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Jan 24, 2022, 5:26:39 PM1/24/22
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I support John Young’s post to this list regarding this issue, since:
1. This is an electroacoustic music discussion forum and the named person is/was a well known electroacoustic music composer.
2. Many list subscribers are involved in education at various types of institutions and the issues surrounding sexual harm, relationships, the balance of power between student and teacher, researcher and mentor/supervisor are just as relevant to our field as that are to any discipline.
3. The “legacy” of any composer is certainly a topic of interest for a music discussion group. Musicology groups would have no qualms in examining the whole person to also embrace the sociological, political, cultural, environmental, anthropological, philosophical phenomena associated with a composer’s oeuvre and life.
4. John's post helps shine a light on an uncomfortable area that some would like to relegate to the past or sweep under the carpet, but it is just as relevant today as it has always been. John’s post helps us to pause and reflect on these wider matters that are a part of our relationships, our discipline and our institutions.
5. That the Victoria University of Wellington embarked on such a complex and difficult process of reconciliation with the alleged victims and came to some sort of agreement with them is to their mutual credit. Perhaps others may learn something from this experience. To that end, making it known to us subscribers on this list could be helpful to others.

Electroacoustic music making, education and research are not immune from these considerations and IMHV these issues are a legitimate topic for discussion here.

Kind Regards,
David

Associate Professor David Hirst, PhD
Honorary Principal Fellow,
Melbourne Conservatorium of Music
Faculty of Fine Arts and Music
University of Melbourne 
Australia

On 25 Jan 2022, at 3:59 am, John Young <jyo...@dmu.ac.uk> wrote:


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