Wednesday, February 24, 1999
Court decision places blame on rape victims
PUNISHMENT: Societies shift responsibility away from assailants,
add stigma to crime
In 1998, a 45-year-old driving instructor was convicted of
raping an 18-year-old student. He was sentenced to 32 months in
prison. The case was re-tried one year later in a court of appeals,
and the conviction was overturned, based upon evidence that the
alleged rape victim was wearing tight jeans. The court ruled that
it would be impossible for the accused to take off the jeans
"without the cooperation of the person wearing them," and also
questioned why the victim waited several hours to report the crime.
This is not a fictional story. Sometimes reality is much more
perverse than any fictional tale.
Earlier this month, the Court of Cassation, the highest appeals
court in Italy, ruled that a woman wearing jeans could not possibly
be a rape victim. Female lawmakers protesting the ruling in Rome
held up signs on Feb. 11 outside the Parliament building that
summarized this shameful, audacious decision – "Jeans: An alibi for
rape." This ruling not only denies that the alleged rape really was
a rape, but it also places blame on the victim for wearing
jeans.
While this ruling may have occurred in a foreign country
thousands of miles away, the idea of blaming the victim is not that
foreign of an idea. Americans often treat rape accusations with
skepticism; as a result, rape occurrences go largely underreported.
National studies show that 90 percent of all rapes are never
reported; UCLA’s statistics mirror these national studies. Robin
McDonald, the sexual violence and education coordinator at UCLA’s
Women’s Resource Center, estimates that the center sees between 60
and 95 students in an academic year for post-sexual assault related
service. Out of those 60 to 95 students, only four rapes were
reported to the university police at UCLA last year. This year,
only three rapes and one attempted rape have been reported thus
far.
According to a 1993 study by the National Victim Center, 1 in 4
female students is a rape survivor.
California state laws are some of the strongest in the nation in
providing legal protections for rape or attempted rape victims. The
California Penal Code defines sexual assault as "rape," even if the
victim communicates to the defendant "that the defendant use a
condom or other birth control device." Furthermore, an intoxicated
person cannot legally consent to sex; that too, is still considered
rape. While a person confronted with rape may not have to face the
legal challenges that women in Italy now face, societal treatment
of rape victims is not much better in the United States.
While a woman in the United States would probably never be
accused of cooperating with her assailant just because she wore
jeans, other accusations would most definitely be launched. Many
women who have experienced sexual assault never get so far as
trying their assailant in a court of law. The stigma attached to
rape, and to reporting rape, prevents many victims from coming
forward about these crimes. Another reason many women do not report
sexual assaults is that with their friends, family, the police and
the courts, they must relive the nightmare they have survived,
while, at the same time, explaining their sexual history,
personality traits and style of dress.
Perhaps blaming a rape victim for wearing "sexy" clothes is not
so different from blaming a rape victim for cooperating in taking
off her "tight jeans." We, too, live in a country where victims are
too often blamed for the crimes committed against them.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a woman is raped
every two minutes somewhere in America. Rape is a psychological
crime; the victims must live with the crime the rest of their
lives, and live in a society that blames them for it. Italy’s Court
of Cassation must repeal its court decision, and Americans must
reassess their antiquated attitudes.
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