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[quote=Anonymous]I am a survivor of both molestation as a child and being raped by a person known to me.

I grew up to be a domestic violence advocate, then later a prosecutor.

During my years prosecuting, a decade or more before the #metoo movement, I had to have on multiple occasions very difficult conversations with rape victims about whether or not to pursue charges in their cases. I always left it up to the victims. I always disclosed that I was a survivor of sexual assault myself, and that if they chose to pursue the case I would champion them to the best of my abilities and with all the passion and dedication I could bring to bear.

But I was also totally honest with them about the abysmally low conviction rates in sexual assault cases, about the unconscious and conscious biases jurors bring into the box  which make them doubt the credibility of sexual assault victims, about the vicious ways defense attorneys play on those biases in cross examination of victims, about how no matter how hard the system tries to get it right (and it isn’t always trying), a rape trial is nearly always a re-victimization process.

In every case I had where the rapist was a well liked and supported member of the community the victims ultimately decided not to go forward. It was heartbreaking but entirely understandable.

There is some catharsis for victims who prosecute and get a conviction, but of the 1% of rape cases that ever even go to trial, less than half will result in conviction and there is a lot of pain in the process. We are still operating under antiquated thinking which is why there is so much sexual assault of women and children and so many rapists walking among us, wearing their nice guy masks. Fooling actually nice people into believing they aren’t the monsters they are.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/10/06/less-than-percent-rapes-lead-felony-convictions-least-percent-victims-face-emotional-physical-consequences/[/quote]

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