Posted by deirdrehbrt on January 15, 2004, at 17:57:08
In reply to Re: Might Have Some Good Come Out of It » deirdrehbrt, posted by judy1 on January 15, 2004, at 9:12:04
It's so sad when a woman is assaulted, first by an assailant, and then by the legal system. I honestly don't think that either is worse. There are the feelings and physical effects of the assault, and that is followed by a total destruction of your character. The questions, and the implications drawn from the answers can ruin marriages, cause the loss of custody of your children, and cause the loss of jobs.
I don't think that that it should be legal to question in this fashion. If the only point of the questioning is to destroy a woman's reputation, it's wrong. If the point is to call attention to (as President Bush once said) 'youthfull indescressions', then there is no real point either.
If, and this is quite unlikely, a woman ensnared someone, then perhaps that questioning might be something that I could understand. I doubt seriously that this happens every day.
Men still say that women don't mean 'NO'. Men still say that women 'like it rough'. Men still joke about it afterward. Not all men, but still too many. I really don't know what to do about it. Maybe we can have some sort of campaign to change some of the laws that allow the harrassment of the witness. Maybe we could let the juries know what happens to women who have been so hurt. Maybe we can stress safety when we educate women.
I don't have the answers, but I think we should really look.
Dee.
poster:deirdrehbrt
thread:300583
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20040109/msgs/301360.html