Two examples of young women who refused to dismiss the act of rape are Tawana Brawley (noted in one of the boxes above) and Cheryl Araujo.
In 1987, Brawley attracted national media attention by reporting that she had been raped by six white men, including a few police officers. The following year, a grand jury concluded that her claims were entirely fabricated, strengthening an already-heated conflict between blacks, whites, and the press. But what has been most unfortunate is that whether Brawley lied or not, the legal outcome of her case set an unfavorable precedent for all victims of sexual assault to follow her.
Anyone attempting to cite what I call The Girl Who Cried Rape Syndrome would undoubtedly have been influenced by Brawley's controversy. Now, as unjust as false accusations (and the subsequent harm to an innocent man's reputation and freedom) are, what is often overlooked is the fact that the rate of women lying while reporting rape is absolutely minuscule compared to how many actual incidents of sexual assault go undocumented.
Exploring why any woman who suffered such a painful experience would not seek justice takes me to my next example: Cheryl Araujo. At the end of her trial, she did win a guilty verdict against the men who raped her (in plain view of others at the bar where the assault took place). However, this was not an open-and-shut case as one would have imagined. The heavy scrutiny that Araujo underwent during her testimony - when defense attorneys challenged her claims of having been violated by questioning her lifestyle and moral character - contributes to the fears and anxiety that young women have of dealing with a legal system that might attribute the cause of rape to the alleged victim instead of to the perpetrator.
Jodi Foster won her first Best Actress Oscar for her performance in the 1988 film The Accused in which she plays a character based on Araujo.
4 comments:
i had those things said to me.
rape wouldn't exist without rapists. why can't people understand this completely logical statement?
since the number of undocumented rapes is unknown how do you know it out paces the number of false accusations? I read that 15 of reported rapes are later deemed to be false reports. Since the number of unreported assaults is unknown how do you know it is more?
As to rapist there is no excuse for them. When a woman says no you stop period. I'd rather go home with blue balls then spend time in jail.
"I'd rather go home with blue balls then spend time in jail."
so you fear the punishment? what about the life that gets destroyed?
i never reported the guy that raped me, because i feared to be draged out in public, i feared the reaction of my family, my father and my brothers would have killed the man and i didn t want them to go to jail for what that pisspoor excuse of a man did to me. i left it behind me but i never forgot. you can never forget, no matter what others tell you. YOU will never forget it.
knowing that you ( as a man) just don t do such a thing to a woman because of the consequences for her life or not doing it because of fear of the punishment?? that is a totally different thing. i hope you figure it out one day.
i really do.
malefizia
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