I’m spitting mad. Usually my rage will be reserved for a moronic act by a GOP legislature, or upon learning about a judge who lets rich people get away with murder.
Not today.
Some of you may be following the Jameis Winston case, where a extra special football player allegedly raped a woman. Last week the DA announced he wasn’t going to prosecute, and thought that was fucking hilarious.
Today the 9-1-1 tape was released. There isn’t much new information therein. My fury was ignited by Good Morning America’s coverage of the tape.
Did you catch that last little bit? The part back in the studio? The part where George Stephanopoulos lets us all know that he’d rather this go away than justice be served. And Robin quickly agrees.
THIS IS WHAT THE CULTURE OF RAPE IS.
It is about accusers being ignored, slandered, vilified. It’s about the accused, when they are famous, or good at manipulating a round or oblong object, “declining” to give a statement to the police who delayed their investigation.
But more than that, it’s about treating the sexual assault of another human being as an ugly inconvenience for all involved. It’s about treating sexual assault survivors as perpetrators of unpleasantness for the accused, the police, the community, even the media.
I don’t expect a good ol’ boys police department or a DA concerned about his conviction rate to change their ways. Rape is hard to prove often, and while false allegations happen less than 8% of the time, for men (almost always, isn’t it) in these positions, it’s easy and safe for them to decline to prosecute.
But when the media treats an alleged rape as an a bit of unpleasantness — not the rape, mind you — when the network media is so dismissive, they are complicit in silencing the millions of women who have been raped and have not come forward. They are guilty, far more guilty than the women they imply somehow brought sexual assault upon themselves, of protecting rapists, and of endorsing the continued violation of both women who have and women who will be raped.
Shame on them.