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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Try thinking about it this way. What if someone accused you of a horrific crime which you did not commit? However, your name is plastered all over the media linking you to this terrible crime. However, charges are never pressed so you have no opportunity to defend yourself nor clear your name publicly from these charges.

That would completely suck. Your life is ruined. You've done nothing wrong and you have no way to change the outcome.[/quote]

Try thinking about it this way: why are you identifying more with the possible rapist than with the possible rape victim? What are the consequences of assuming that rape charges are false?[/quote]

Clearly, you don't have a son.  No one here is "identifying more with the possible rapist than with the possible rape victim".  Everyone wants to ses a rapist behind bars and to paint it otherwise is irresponsible and insulting.  But if the standard can't simply be to point a finger and say "he did it," arrest him.  There has got to be some kind of evidence.  Whether it's the men in question admitting what they did, or actual physical evidence - which of course, there is none of since Jackie didn't go to the hospital.  That's why it's so incredibly important for rape victims to report immediately. [/quote]

You know what's a really good way to encourage rape victims to report immediately? Let them know that people will take their stories seriously.

You know what's a really good way to discourage rape victims from reporting immediately (or ever)? Tell them, "Well, we'll need a whole lot more evidence besides just your word for it before we believe that you're telling the truth."

Yes, everybody wants to see a rapist behind bars -- if the rapist was a stranger who used physical force on a woman who was sober, chaste, and in a respectable place where she was supposed to be. Any other kinds of rapists? Well, what was she wearing? Was she drunk? What was she doing there? Maybe she's a prostitute. Maybe she regrets it and is crying rape. What did she expect when she went there and did that? [/quote]

so her allegations should be good enough then? No due process, no innocent until proven guilty?[/quote]

PP, you seem confused about a variety of things:

1. When you talk about "evidence" but dismiss the victim's accounting of what happened to her, you are basically saying that her evidence is not "real" evidence. Your suggestion that a woman's report that she was raped should only be taken seriously if she also provides physical evidence is pretty cold. There are a lot of reasons why a rape victim might not have physical evidence. There was a thread on this forum this year in which a married woman was raped at gunpoint by her husband, who was drunk and coked up, and many of us reading that thread were surprised to learn that the only hospital in DC that has staff who are certified to actually collect a rape kit (which is more complicated than a lot of people initially believe) is WHC.

2. Obviously, when a person makes a report that they were the victim of a crime, what happens next (if they are reporting to the police) is that an officer will take their story and investigate it further. That investigation will obviously include many components, including attempts to corroborate the victim's story of what happened to her, collection of physical evidence, such as there may be, and whatever else goes into the investigation. What the PP (and many, many other people this thread) are taking issue with is the prevailing climate of investigation in which the answer is not "take the victim's report and treat it as a serious allegation". I am not a rape victim, but I know several women who did report their rapes, and every one of them experienced at least one law enforcement officer who suggested that maybe she had brought this crime on herself.

[b]When you say things like "so her allegations should be good enough then?", my answer to you is yes, her allegations should be good enough to trigger an investigation, [/b]conducted by people who have sensitivity training on interacting with rape victims. Programs like that exist, but they are not prioritized, even in an environment with a known risk for a high rate of sexual assault (which frankly I'd define as any college town, at this point). Her allegations are good enough to trigger the rest of the investigation and should be taken seriously. The reality is that many, many women report that their allegations were NOT taken seriously or that they were encouraged not to press charges, even by law enforcement personnel in the context of reporting their rape.[/quote]

Absolutely.  But there have been confessions, admissions of guilt. So that had to be made to someone.  I’m just confused here.  Is the problem the guilty parties haven’t been criminally charged? [/quote]

If this victim decided that she did not want to prosecute, for whatever reasons, that is her decision. I understand the reasons that a victim might make this decision, though in a case like this, I think it very clearly leaves the door open for the rapist to rape again. I am actually in favor of the state bringing the case on behalf of Jane Doe victims, though I understand that people might find that problematic in a "know your accuser" sort of way.  The problem I have is with the general attitude that a woman's report of her own rape does not count as evidence. She's an eye witness to a crime and any lawyer on this forum can tell you that an affidavit does actually count as evidence.[/quote]

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