<<http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2005/12/dont-just-blame-victim- prosecute-her.html>>
A 17-year-old girl went to police at the urging of her friends after she was allegedly gang-raped by three men, including her boyfriend. The men testified that the act was consensual. After reviewing all the information and statements, prosecutors decided they didnât think they could prove a rape allegation, and so declined to prosecute the case. Instead, they prosecuted the victim for filing a false police report. Yesterday, she was found guilty. The victim has never recanted her story. Instead, the decision was based on the judgeâs opinion that the three men were more credible, in part because a police detective and the victimâs friends testified she did not âact traumatizedâ in the days after the incident. ... He also noted what was, and was not, allowed to be introduced as evidence. Allowed: The 17-year-old victimâs sexual history. Not allowed: That one of the victimâs âfriends,â her mother, has problems with alcohol and prescription drugs, provided her daughter with the alcohol sheâd had that evening (which the mother had stolen from the store at which she cashiers), and was: â¦awaiting her boyfriendâs return to her home within two months of the rape. That boyfriend was in prison for molesting his own daughter. Thatâs hardly a credible witness with any sympathy for victims of sexual assault⦠Additionally, the two âfriendsâ were the ones who convinced the 17 year old that she should report it to the police. So if the young woman is guilty [of filing a false rape charge], the instigating accessories to her âcrimeâ are considered credible experts about how a rape victim should act. Again: The judge decided that the victim was not credible because her friend and her mother said she did not âact traumatizedâ in the days after the incident. He then filed a charge against the victim which turned the two people he had deemed credible witnesses into criminal conspirators. That seems rather confusing, that two criminal conspirators could also be credible witnesses, and experts on post-rape trauma no less. Although, it is rather convenient for a judge and prosecutors who might want to make a point. ... Heather J. Huhtanen, Sexual Assault Training Institute director for the Attorney General's Sexual Assault Task Force, reports that Portland police have found that 1.6% of sexual assault cases were falsely reported. By way of comparison, 2.6% of auto theft cases were falsely reported. ... A womanâs sexual history has absolutely no bearing on whether she was rapedâincluding her past sexual history, if any, with her attacker. A rapist doesnât give a ratâs ass whether he rapes a virgin or a whore, or any of the majority of us who fall somewhere in between, which makes each of us as likely to fall victim to the crime as anyone else. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
