April 16, 2007

Published: Duke Lacrosse Follow-up

Last week I mailed back my permissions contract to a publisher. A few months ago, I was asked by an editor if she could use the post I wrote, inspired by the Duke lacrosse rape case in a book to be published in the fall of 2007 called "At Issue: Date Rape". The book is a collection of contemporary articles and opinions written on the issue of date rape and I was flattered to have been included in the book that is distributed to high schools and colleges throughout the country. It’s one of the few things I have written for publication that I will actually be paid a decent amount for, which is exciting all on its own.

At about the same time, the news story broke that the Duke Lacrosse players are innocent.

And quickly to follow was a comment on my syndicated blog (from a criminal defense attorney) asking me this:

"The lives of these young men have been hurt by those who chose to rush to judgment. The question I pose to you is: will you have a follow-up blog, acknowledging your mistake? While sexual crimes against women are a serious problem, would you agree that failure to recognize the presumption of innocence is an equal affront to justice."

Did I state in my post that the Duke players were guilty? No. Did I assume that they were? Absolutely. As a woman, as a former PEER Educator, as someone who listened to friends sobbing on the phone about their own rape, and as someone who fought off a guy on a date gone wrong many years ago, that was the only possible assumption for me.

Do I owe the Duke lacrosse players an apology? Absolutely not. In my post last year I clearly stated that "the only thing worse than a group of guys sticking together and not saying a word about what they’ve done, is a "victim" who makes up the crime." I left open the possibility that it was made up. And I was right about the fact that a victim making up the crime is despicable. It’s beyond reproach, and it undermines every valid claim of rape that will be made in the future.

I want that woman to know that she has made it markedly more difficult for future rape victims. I want her to know that her lie has enabled many more rapists to get away with their crime because the victims will be afraid to come forward for fear of not being believed. I want her to know that, along with other women and men who made up the crime, she now shares in being a huge part of the problem with rapists, victims, and a culture that chooses to berate and beat up the victim all over again in court. I want her to know that I think she is pathetic; and that I hope the magnitude of what she did is very clear to her, and that she will have to live with that knowledge for the rest of her life.

In this case, the woman isn’t rich and therefore can not compensate the lacrosse players for what they went through. I am thankful that the players have been declared "innocent" instead of just having the charges dropped due to lack of evidence. They will be able to get their lives back and have future success.

I’d like to remind anyone irritated with me voicing my opinion a year ago that many rape victims never get their lives back and that they continue to be haunted by the crime.

But, as I quoted last year in my post, I’ll do so again regarding victims making up crimes:

"As Jim Hines states in his article:

‘It happens. It’s a legitimate fear. But it’s not one I’ve got a lot of sympathy for. Not compared to the people who lived every night in fear that their father, mother, or some other relative would come in and molest them. Not compared to the women who struggled through fear, violation, and helplessness after a boy they trusted turned out to be a rapist. Not compared to the vast number of men and women who did speak out about their victimization, only to be labeled liars and sluts.’"

We’re supposed to have a presumption of innocence in this country and while it’s a novel idea, it just doesn’t happen. The media often tries a case before a potential jury can even get their hands on it. It may not be right, but the assumption that I made about the lacrosse case is the same one a lot of other people made and was based on the information provided by the media, and by my own personal experiences.

Will I be more skeptical in the future if another incident like this happens? Potentially, but much of what we believe is based on who we are and what we’ve experienced; and there is absolutely no way I would doubt an alleged rape victim’s word until I have very good reason to do so.