If events of the last few months have sent any sort of message to women in America it's this: if you're raped or sexually assaulted, justice won't be on your side.
What happens when the people who are supposed to protect you are the rapists themselves--such as in NY, when cops on separate occasions have been accused of committing rape? What happens when the press and public spend as much time parsing a victim's history and "character" than the person accused of brutally assaulting her (like the New York Post calling Dominique Strauss-Khan's accuser a "hooker")? What conclusion can we draw when a rape victim's attempt to confront a powerful entity is publicly acknowledged as futile?
Women can't win. The structures, institutions and organizations supposed to help rape victims are often simply tools of a social attitude that blames them for the crimes committed against them...."
"Now, should we treat women as independent agents, responsible for themselves? Of course. But being responsible has nothing to do with being raped. Women don’t get raped because they were drinking or took drugs. Women do not get raped because they weren’t careful enough. Women get raped because someone raped them."
~Jessica Valenti
2 comments:
What is wrong with this country? I want to move.
The feeling that I need to move to like Sweden or Norway grows stronger every day for me.
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