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Rape: The Dilemma of Obtaining Justice, Protecting Rights. and Everyone's Privacy Choices
If you work with trauma victims--individuals who have suffered from sexual assault, battery, kidnapping, etc. You know that there is not just one way that people respond to trauma, and there is not only one right way to assist in recovery.
At Universities, many of the advocacy and counseling issues are complicated by legal issues and administrations' desires to create a safe place for all.
Because of the Post-Event Trauma associated with rape, many victims of this crime choose not to pursue Justice.
They have seen friends being dragged through a legal system that has been perverted (Whores of the Court) (Justice for Some) and have seen the statistics that indicate a poor chance for prosecutions, let alone convictions.
Unlike burglary victims, who are not asked why they had so many pretty things sitting in plain view through the garage windows, or murder victims, who are not asked why they had the gall to show off their vitality, Rape Victims are often asked, in court, why they dressed provokatively or allowed a date to kiss them.
Yes, those questions are being asked in court by the Best Defense Attorneys in 2010.
They have seen parents freak out and boyfriends accuse,
They have decided to spare a sister or brother from the vicarious trauma.
(Many erroneously believe that by pushing the trauma aside, it will go away.)
Some decide that the retaliation they will endure after reporting is not worth the feelings of futility and frustration. When victims have been ordered in court NOT to use the word, "rape" but instead use "sexual intercourse" (!) -- No wonder they assume the worst. Most students i have worked with decided not to pursue legal remedies, either through the campus policies or through the legal system.
Many were informed by police or lawyers that their case would "probably" not be picked up for trial. So in that case-- the perpetrator would be questioned once or twice, enough to let him know who reported him, then the matter would be dropped by officials.
and the crime victim lives on...
( The Kansas City Star had an excellent article about the aftermath:HERE)
So here is the Issue I'd like to hear about and ponder and get your emails and comments:
How do we turn around the reporting issues that surround Sexual Assault?
When women do show great bravery and push for justice, it is usually to "keep the guy from doing it again"--do we think that works?
When will women and men (i do not speak of girls and boys) decide they and their families will have to endure all the pain, and maybe for nothing, in order to change the culture of non-reporting?
Should we hide victims' names?
When will all sexual crime victims feel it is OK to report and be safe afterwards?
Shall we have a national day of reporting?
Here is a dilemma for you:
1. If a student who is raped decides not to pursue legal remedies, and the perpetrator rapes again, is the first victim to blame?
2. If a university employee knows the name of the perpetrator--perhaps the victim told a teacher, or an advocate, or a nurse or a custodial staff friend--and the university does not pursue the perpetrator, even though the victims has expressly said, I Do Not Want To Pursue It-- and the perpetrator rapes another student, is the first victim to blame or is the university to blame?
3. If the victim does say, yes, i want to pursue, through university policies or the legal system, this crime, please help me--and the case is never brought to trial because of lack of evidence, and the rapist rapes again, who is to blame?
4. If the rapist is convicted and he is released and rapes again, is the rehabilitation system to blame?
Keep in mind: Rapists do not rape for sex, but to assuage feelings of inferiority.
Rapists have access to consensual sex. But the act of overpowering,taking, forcing, winning, is what makes rape attractive to this selfish individual. According to the primary researacher of campus sexual assault, most rapists continue to rape until they are stopped. read and watch: (Dr. David Lisak-The Undetected Rapist)
At Universities, many of the advocacy and counseling issues are complicated by legal issues and administrations' desires to create a safe place for all.
Because of the Post-Event Trauma associated with rape, many victims of this crime choose not to pursue Justice.
Unlike burglary victims, who are not asked why they had so many pretty things sitting in plain view through the garage windows, or murder victims, who are not asked why they had the gall to show off their vitality, Rape Victims are often asked, in court, why they dressed provokatively or allowed a date to kiss them.
Yes, those questions are being asked in court by the Best Defense Attorneys in 2010.
They have seen parents freak out and boyfriends accuse,
They have decided to spare a sister or brother from the vicarious trauma.
(Many erroneously believe that by pushing the trauma aside, it will go away.)
Some decide that the retaliation they will endure after reporting is not worth the feelings of futility and frustration. When victims have been ordered in court NOT to use the word, "rape" but instead use "sexual intercourse" (!) -- No wonder they assume the worst. Most students i have worked with decided not to pursue legal remedies, either through the campus policies or through the legal system.
Many were informed by police or lawyers that their case would "probably" not be picked up for trial. So in that case-- the perpetrator would be questioned once or twice, enough to let him know who reported him, then the matter would be dropped by officials.
and the crime victim lives on...
( The Kansas City Star had an excellent article about the aftermath:HERE)
So here is the Issue I'd like to hear about and ponder and get your emails and comments:
How do we turn around the reporting issues that surround Sexual Assault?
When women do show great bravery and push for justice, it is usually to "keep the guy from doing it again"--do we think that works?
When will women and men (i do not speak of girls and boys) decide they and their families will have to endure all the pain, and maybe for nothing, in order to change the culture of non-reporting?
Should we hide victims' names?
When will all sexual crime victims feel it is OK to report and be safe afterwards?
Shall we have a national day of reporting?
Here is a dilemma for you:
1. If a student who is raped decides not to pursue legal remedies, and the perpetrator rapes again, is the first victim to blame?
2. If a university employee knows the name of the perpetrator--perhaps the victim told a teacher, or an advocate, or a nurse or a custodial staff friend--and the university does not pursue the perpetrator, even though the victims has expressly said, I Do Not Want To Pursue It-- and the perpetrator rapes another student, is the first victim to blame or is the university to blame?
3. If the victim does say, yes, i want to pursue, through university policies or the legal system, this crime, please help me--and the case is never brought to trial because of lack of evidence, and the rapist rapes again, who is to blame?
4. If the rapist is convicted and he is released and rapes again, is the rehabilitation system to blame?
Keep in mind: Rapists do not rape for sex, but to assuage feelings of inferiority.
Rapists have access to consensual sex. But the act of overpowering,taking, forcing, winning, is what makes rape attractive to this selfish individual. According to the primary researacher of campus sexual assault, most rapists continue to rape until they are stopped. read and watch: (Dr. David Lisak-The Undetected Rapist)
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