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Should alleged rapists be protected until proven guilty?
Submitted by anthony on Wed, 2010-05-19 10:58
Article here. Excerpt:
'Given that some women will make false rape allegations, shouldn’t the law protect the identity of both the alleged culprit and victim before the courts issue a verdict?
It should, says Dr. Zein Kebonang, a legal expert and former law lecturer at the University of Botswana who is now operations director at Botswana-UPenn Partnership.
It shouldn’t, counters Mpho Mahopolo of Women Against Rape (WAR), a Maun-based NGO.
Kebonang says that once made, the allegation becomes a stigma that attaches itself to the falsely accused for the rest of his life. He suggests that largely has to do with the fact that the court of public opinion is notoriously unforgiving.
“It doesn’t matter whether the court clears you of the charges; in the eyes of the public there will always be lingering doubt. And all it takes is just an accusation. Even if you are cleared before the case reaches court, people would say that you bought the victim off. That is why I feel that it is important to protect the identity of the alleged culprit in the same way that the law protects that of the victim,” he says.
Conversely, Mahopolo does not think that it would be proper to equate the rights of the culprit with those of the victim. Her argument is that if the identity of the alleged culprits was protected, rape cases would skyrocket. The theory she advances is that criminally lustful men would rape with impunity.'
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Ed. Note: The Sunday Standard is published in Botswana.
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Comments
In a word - YES
A false accusation of rape currently does MORE real measurable damage to the man accused then real rape does to a victim of either gender by a perpetrator of either gender.
Why? Let's compare.
Most incidents of rape last minutes that the victim carries with them for life.
False accusations drag on FOR YEARS before trial in many cases, and the victim carries the scars for life
A rape is a singular event, albeit a horrific one.
A false accusation is a series of thousands of events starting with arrest and interrogation that alone can go on for several days. Then, you get thrown in lockup until your bail hearing which could take days or weeks to come up - meanwhile, the victim is in prison and the others in there with him know why he's there cause the guards don't like rapists so they let it be known what he's waiting for bail on. So he could be beaten, raped, or killed. He may or may not get bail. Assuming he does, he gets put under strict conditions that curtail his freedoms. He must sacrifice all the money he has in the world to pay for his defense and the accusation alone in most cases cost him his job/career/education. That's bad enough, but he's also been covered in the media so EVERYONE thinks he's guilty already and the media coverage will trail him for life (thanks to search engines like Google). Keep in mind he is INNOCENT and the accusation is false. We're not talking about a hardened career criminal who does not care about media coverage and aspires to nothing but a life of crime and is well adapted to prison life already. We're talking about a person who has NO EARTHLY IDEA what they are in for or up against.
Try if you will to imagine the terror that rape victims suffer during the few minutes in which the horrible act is being carried out - now imagine that terror non-stop for YEARS. Every second of every day with no peace, no rest, no relief.
Then, when it turns out she's a liar and made the whole thing up, no one ever arrests her. The media prints a tiny retraction on page G36 that never even makes it to the web site. He's lost everything.
No one give's a rats ass, and he's told that he's the lucky one cause he did not get convicted and should be grateful for the learning experience. People apparently used to treat rape victims like they wanted it, but I guarantee they've never been treated like those men who are falsely accused.
They say rape victims carry it with them forever. Not to make light of a victim's suffering, but Sheldon Kennedy went on to have a career in the NHL and has a lovely family despite being molested by Graham James. Not saying James did not hurt him or is a good and decent guy, but just comparing what those falsely accused of rape endure after the events have ended with what some victims of sexual molestation have successfully accomplished. Falsely accused men lose their careers, and women don't date them. They just get tossed aside as collateral damage in the war on rape, er sexual assault, well sex in general really these days if you actually read the laws.
So i don't know. I guess it depends on what side of the fence stand on. Do you think victims of false accusations are acceptable losses in the war on rape (or whatever the hell it's called these days)? Do you think sacrificing a few decent men is worth saving even one woman from being raped?
Not Rocket Science!
A false allegation of rape is rape!
This concept is so simple.
It would be if it only lasted 10 minutes
But unfortunately, the torture that those falsely accused of rape can carry on for years - assuming they even get acquitted, otherwise it's decades. Plus, in lockup they face brutal beatings, rape and even murder in some cases just in the hours after their arrest before their bail hearing comes up. Then the justice system is so slow it could take years for them to get a trial. If they hold out that long and don't commit suicide or take a plea and actually win, then they are treated as acceptable losses in the war against rape.
Ask ANYONE whose survived a false accusation whether they would rather live through what they lived through or if they could rewind those events and just be brutally raped once instead. Guess which one they'll pick. Some of them have already been brutally raped during the process anyway, and I bet they put that in a category of being the least of their problems.
So until we get back to the days of INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY, and those accused of rape receive special protection from the system before they are found guilty false accusations are worse then rape and do MUCH more damage to the victims who suffer through them then rape. Why does society feel the need to rush to judgment? If they are guilty there is plenty of time to punish them after it has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt (with actual reliable corroborating evidence and not just an accusation alone).
When it comes to sex cases protect EVERYONE'S identity until AFTER the trial. It MUST be so unless we consider men ACCUSED (not convicted) to be disposable collateral damage.
yes.
Obviously.
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Rise, Rebel, Resist.