![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jadedmusings[Trigger Warnings for rape, victim-blaming]
I often wonder why it's a mystery to some that many rape victims don't report their rape to the authorities. Perhaps a case from Washington state might yet again shed some light on why this is.
So, instead of looking at the case and deciding there was no further evidence available at the time (horrible in and of itself), it was decided "the bitch is lying" and she was re-victimized by the police. Many, many rape victims who do report their rapes come back with the same story. "The police didn't believe me. My friends didn't believe me. Everyone thinks I made it up to get back at [the rapist]." Hell, even when a victim is believed, the next question inevitably is, "What did you do that allowed this to happen?" Look at Rhianna and Chris Brown. How many times did you see or hear a comment of some jackass saying, "She must have been pushing his buttons. She should have shut up."
Let's take stock here: A woman is raped (victimized once), the police don't believe her story and charged her with filing a false report (victimized twice, this time by the people she's always been told will help), and she's forced to pay a $500 fine and attend counseling (likely victimized a third time since the counselors would be operating under the notion that she's there by court order for filing a false report, therefore any trauma she displays is entirely in her head).
Well thank $Deity for small favors, huh? Yes, this makes it all better. I'm sure being paid back her $500 and having her record expunged will completely erase all the emotional and mental torture she's suffered since 2008.
And how many more women might he have raped who reported the crime only to be ignored by authorities? How many of all these so-called false rape reports MRA's screech about are actually real reports that the cops decided were false, as in this case?
How many fucking rapists are out there walking the streets because women are not trusted?
Next fucker that asks me why women don't report rape is gonna have this report shoved down his throat.
Hat tip to Shakesville
I often wonder why it's a mystery to some that many rape victims don't report their rape to the authorities. Perhaps a case from Washington state might yet again shed some light on why this is.
The victim in a Washington state sex assault now linked to a 32-year-old Lakewood man was charged with false reporting and paid a $500 fine in 2008 because police didn't believe her story.
Authorities in Lynnwood, Wash., reopened their case and reimbursed the woman after Colorado detectives found pictures of the victim on a camera belonging to Marc O'Leary, an Army veteran charged in two similar cases in Golden and Westminster, Lynnwood police Cmdr. Steve Rider said.
[snip]
Detectives testified during a court hearing in Jefferson County Monday that the attacker in the Golden and Westminster cases, as well as the Lynnwood case and another under investigation in Aurora, was meticulous about not leaving evidence at the scene.
He wore gloves and a mask, and brought with him wet wipes to clean up the scene after assaulting women for hours. Afterward, he made his victims brush their teeth and shower, and he took their clothes and bedding with him when he left, Golden Det. Stacy Galbraith said.
So, instead of looking at the case and deciding there was no further evidence available at the time (horrible in and of itself), it was decided "the bitch is lying" and she was re-victimized by the police. Many, many rape victims who do report their rapes come back with the same story. "The police didn't believe me. My friends didn't believe me. Everyone thinks I made it up to get back at [the rapist]." Hell, even when a victim is believed, the next question inevitably is, "What did you do that allowed this to happen?" Look at Rhianna and Chris Brown. How many times did you see or hear a comment of some jackass saying, "She must have been pushing his buttons. She should have shut up."
Rider said the victim in the Lynnwood case, whom police did not identify, was assigned a public defender in 2008 and ultimately agreed to a plea deal to avoid a trial. Her case was dismissed in 2010, after she completed conditions of the plea, which included counseling.
Let's take stock here: A woman is raped (victimized once), the police don't believe her story and charged her with filing a false report (victimized twice, this time by the people she's always been told will help), and she's forced to pay a $500 fine and attend counseling (likely victimized a third time since the counselors would be operating under the notion that she's there by court order for filing a false report, therefore any trauma she displays is entirely in her head).
Police are now working with prosecutors to have the woman's record expunged, Rider said.
Well thank $Deity for small favors, huh? Yes, this makes it all better. I'm sure being paid back her $500 and having her record expunged will completely erase all the emotional and mental torture she's suffered since 2008.
O'Leary is charged in Colorado with 28 counts — including sex assault, kidnapping and burglary — for the attacks in Golden in January and Westminster in 2010, and for an attempted assault in Lakewood in 2010.
And how many more women might he have raped who reported the crime only to be ignored by authorities? How many of all these so-called false rape reports MRA's screech about are actually real reports that the cops decided were false, as in this case?
How many fucking rapists are out there walking the streets because women are not trusted?
Next fucker that asks me why women don't report rape is gonna have this report shoved down his throat.
Hat tip to Shakesville
