http://insidedateline.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/01/27/43049.aspx
Reading things like this make me so angry and so sad. It is shameful that a television program would even ask viewers whether or not it was right for a rape victim to try and achieve justice after 21 years. How is this even an issue? If this had been an attempted murder would people still say, well he appologized so it isn't that bad. Rape is murder of the soul, and it doesn't matter whether or not you have experienced it yourself to understand that it is a horrible crime that the victim didn't "ask for." That's like saying that all wealthy people are just asking to be stolen from because they drive nice cars or live in nice homes. No one should have to fear trying to prosecute a crime simply because it occured a long time ago. The sad part of the story is that this woman is lucky her rape occured in the state of Virgina, which has no statue of limitations on rape cases. If she had lived in another part of the country she would have had no recourse despite the fact that he admitted that he raped her!
It frightens me to realize that our society is not nearly as advanced as we might like to think. No one "asks" to be raped, whether she is wearing a jogging suit or a thong bikini, whether she is drunk or sober, whether she is at a frat party or a church study group. How do these situations make any difference in whether or not a horrific crime was committed? It scares me to see that so many people still have these prejudicial feelings towards victims of rape and women in general. Even scarier is the fact that many of these people are women themselves! I am already nervous about having a son and being able to teach him how to be a good man, a man who respects all human beings regardless of their sex. People develop their values from various sources, a major one being their parents, but children also learn from their peers, from the media, and from other environmental sources. It would literally kill me to think that one of my children could agree with some of the sentiments written in by viewers. You don't have to be the victim of rape to identify it as a horrible crime.
2 comments:
We have a tendency to forget how far we've come in such a short period of time. These attitudes are the result of hundreds of years of western cultural development and it certainly will take more than a few decades to change them. America in particular strikes me as very strongly prejudiced towards a Christian-orthodox leaning which favors these sorts of moral, antiquated ideas. Education is the key I guess.
But I think you and Tim will do your best to do your part!
I think you baby boy will learn a lot about how to treat women from how you allow Tim to treat you. And knowing what a strong woman you are, there won't be any issues :)
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