I'm sorry if this post comes across as dramatic- I've been lurking on these forums for a while and although many of things have been said that offend me personally, I've never said anything. Reading (most) of these posts actually cheered and encouraged me- enough so to get me to join the discussion and add my voice to the camp with the more sensible veiws.
I live in a country that has one of the highest instances of rape. People (as is plural) close to me have been raped and being a woman is seriously, seriously scary.
At least from what I've seen and learned about rape, its not about how you dress or act. There's a reason why rape is called 'sexual assault'- its about violence and power.
Women of all appearances and ages are preyed upon. Recently a 100 year-old woman was raped and children under the age of 10 are also often victims- that includes toddlers and even babies.
Do you think those men were sexually attracted to those women and kids?
Rapists are opportunists, they target women who look to be easy targets. What matters is getting away with it- not choosing someone because she's "hot".
Therumancer said:
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Don't get the impression I'm defending rapists, that's not the point per se, it's simply that I feel handling this kind of thing fairly remains a great blind spot in our legal system. The very fact that someone can ask WHY a mode of dress matters to a case of this sort illustrates the problem in my mind. The same applies to things like a pattern of promiscious behavior, and similar things that have people going "W T F" when they shouldn't, if you were an innocent defendant all of this would matter to you.
I'll even go so far as to say that with some of the messed up things people get up to today, even physical trauma doesn't mean all that much. When people play bondage and S&M games, and awarness of that kind of stuff increases, the types of bruises and such rapidly matter. Today some girl comes in with two black eyes, rope burn, cigarette burns, and whip marks all over her, that doesn't nessicarly mean forced sex, it might come down to "how do I justify this to daddy/my boyfriend/co-workers, since I wasn't expecting to be so messed up afterwards" claiming you were raped gets sympathy, obvious signs you liked to be tied up and tortured during sex (or experimented with it) can get you labeled a freak or even fired for reasons of "company image".
There are all kinds of scenarios out there, and remember, Innocent until proven guilty is supposed to be the #1 rule of our law enforcement system. Any bit of reasonable doubt you can put on accusations of guilt is very important.
Dear god, this whole post. Seriously?
Your idea that rapists should only be convicted if there is physical evidence of forced sexual contact is demented. One of the first thing someone who has been raped often does is take a shower or try to clean themselves, and change their clothes. Rape is sometimes reported weeks or months or even years after it happens because of the psychological trauma involved- those people are just as entitled to justice. Coming forward and labelling yourself as a victim of rape is INCREDIBLY hard. The questions, procedures and medical exams involved are also invasive to someone who has gone through that and very traumatising. Victims of rape can go through a lot of feelings of shame and denial and even be made to think that they 'deserved' it or its their fault. Also what about people who have been drugged against their will? Just because their isn't physical trauma or evidence, even if the rape has occurred recently, doesn't mean someone wasn't raped?! There are a thousand scenarios where this could happen.
Your claim that women say they've been raped because it gets you "sympathy" is just sick. Do you actually even know any women? I blame movies and TV, the amount of times "manipulative female villain lies about being raped" scenario happens is gross. I can see why its used, though- its honestly the move of a psychopath, someone unhinged or just someone plain evil. In my opinion, lying about being raped is the ultimate betrayal to your sex.
Most sane women would actually be repulsed by the thought of lying about being raped. There is often a social stigma attached to being a rape survivor that most people don't want. That being said it does happen- but rarely. Your whole post was basically saying "rape can't be proved definitively therefore we should just not address it". Do you know what also happens rarely? - People being convicted of murders they didn't commit. But you don't see governments throwing out their judicial systems etc. because sometimes innocent people go to jail. No system is perfect but its better than nothing.
There is absolutely no justification for rape- not your socio-economic situation,what the woman was wearing, your upbringing, your culture or beliefs. The only thing a rapists gets out of the experience is the feeling of having raped someone, not money or food or anything that could improve their lives. Its the act of someone who is seriously disturbed, not someone who is just "horny".
