slwerner responds to "Fed Up With Rape Straw Man Arguments"

In response to Fed Up With Rape Straw Man Arguments:

Part I – Manditory rape kit processing: "The post describes how Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan helped draft her state's Sexual Assault Sexual Submission Act that mandates that law enforcement must submit untested rape kits for testing within 10 business days of receiving the kit from the hospital and that labs must analyze the kits within 6 months of receipt. Moreover, it calls for all outstanding rape kits in local law enforcement to be tested."

Here's the straw man argument: "When pressed about why so many rape kits were allowed to sit in the pipeline of the proper channels for so long, Madigan gave a frank response: 'I fear it's because our law enforcement doesn't take crimes against women seriously.'”

Hey wait! I thought LE was falling all over themselves to ”rubber stamp” FRA’s? How can this be that they aren’t bothering to test rape kit sin their zeal to convict innocent men, Arod99k? [/snark]

Well, to be serious about this issue of not processing every single rape kit, one can first address the substantial costs -- $1,500 to $5,000 each -- of doing so. And, one can also assess the likelihood that any given rape kit will yield anything meaningful.

Plenty of SANE examines conclude that there is not indication of penetrative trauma, but, a SANE nurse cannot (by law) refuse to collect a specimen, even where they find no obvious evidence of semen or hairs. They still have to take swabs. And, this includes instance in which the alleged victim herself does not even know if sex occurred.

Ben Roethisberger’s more recent situation is a good example of this. She first denied any sex, then wasn’t sure, then was sure – but, of course, since Her rape kit was processed, we know that neither semen nor any of his DNA turned up. $1.5k to determine that her first account was the accurate one. Money well spent – if you’re the innocent suspect who isn’t footing the bill for it.

And, we have seen accounts that tell us that many of the rape kits that are processed end up “outing” the FRA – like that one some months back where the woman claimed to have been raped to cover-up infidelity, only to have her lover fingered by his DNA via another crime years later. Hum? Maybe testing more kit will turn up more FRA’s.

How many will end up showing no sex, and that it was all just for sympathy, attention, or victims assistance money? How about the women who turn out to have been obviously lying getting the bill for the cost of testing?

Part II – Stigma?: Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan - "…there is still a stigma against those who accuse others of rape.”

I think she meant to say sympathy, concern, and wagon-circling protection for  instead of stigma against, not to mention metal health care and victims assistance monies. If there really were this supposed stigma against rape victims, then women wouldn’t be so damned flippant about making the many false allegation of rape that they do.

Archivist - ” A rape accuser is rarely called a "slut" or a "drunk" or a "tease" even after they've behaved in that manner.”

Exactly!

Archivist - ” The only rape stigma is that which sticks to falsely accused men or boys: the stench of a false rape claim is more difficult to remove than skunk odor, and it often trails false rape victims for life.”

Ah! The unvarnished truth! It’s only the men (and some times women) who get accused who suffer any stigma and consequences thereof. Even the liars who are found out can still expect to get support and sympathy from most, if not all quarters. Hell, even LE sometimes provides it – take “Danmell Ndonye”, self-confident empowered slut, re-imagined as “troubled young women”, for example. Then look at the innocent men who’s lives are turned upside down or ruined entirely – who are even denied victims assistance help, even though they were the true victims of a crime. And, do note, even when false accusers are found to have lied, they are not required to repay the monies they fraudulently obtained – again, with no stigma attached. If they come back in, the next day after admitting that they lied before about being raped, and make a new allegation, they will be given more money, no questions asked.

Part III – The mishandling of those falsely accused: ”Hofstra was a microcosm of the way men and boys accused of rape are treated in our purportedly enlightened society. As we have proven time and time and time again on this blog, rape accusers who tell even far-fetched rape lies are nearly universally believed while men and boys accused of rape are nearly universally vilified.”

Indeed it was. Sadly, the police acted as though they “had to” stop a gang of kidnapping gang-rapists, although there was no practical expectation that they would “strike” again. The police simply fell into their all too common white-knighting personas, and dutifully arrested the young men on the word of Danmell Ndonye alone. And, worse than that alone, they went beyond the protocols of their duties in further harassing the young men, and no doubt encouraging other criminals in holding to believe the worst of those men. Having done that SHOULD be a friable offense, needed to send a message to other officers about the way they handle suspects.

Still, despite what some on this forum have been saying, the real problem was the initiator of the hoax, Danmell Ndonye. She did, after all not only claim that she had been forcibly gang-raped, but also that she had been tied up. It’s hard to argue that the police should have done nothing, but it is reasonable to expect that they simply contact the accused, and ask them to come in for questioning. “Perp walks” and excessively aggressive handling are simply not needed for suspects who are willing to cooperate. For the sake of men who will be falsely accused in the future, it is imperative that the word be gotten out to LE about the correct way to deal with these situations. Even when the allegation is a of violent kidnapping and forcible rape, there is still far too likely a chance that it is a lie to not assess the alleged suspects reaction upon being contacted by police. If he doesn’t try to escape, there’s no need to arrest him on the spot. This is all the more true when the allegation is of a date-rape.

But, of course, even when the police do get it right, and see through a claimants lies and changing stories, falsely accused men are still harmed by other elements of society – the press, and the public. Just look at….
"…it was Roethlisberger who was suspended for four games (even though he was never charged with a crime), vilified by football fans across America and nearly driven out of Pittsburgh. The woman's conduct was almost universally given a pass.”