What If Other Crimes Were Investigated Like Rape?

by Megan Sundance MacGregor

In rape culture the victim is suspect not the perpetrator. It is common to require the victim to prove the crime was not her/his fault.  This concept alone is insane. Yet rape victims must often prove they are not lying and generally report to officers not skilled in recording rape claims.

When one survives a traumatic event weather it is something like being fired or something like surviving rape the trauma affects the ability to recall information. This takes time to process the information, often weeks for everything to fall into place. Yet most law enforcement are not trained in this area or simply disregard this fact. The result is an inconsistent story is seen as lying rather than a victim processing what just happened.

What if victims of other crimes were treated like rape victims?  For example, a victim of armed robbery wants to file a report at the local police station. His clothes are disheveled and he has a large swollen wound on the side of his head. Blood dried on the side of his face. He approaches the counter.  

“I need to report a robbery.” He says patting the side of his head with a hanky he looks to see if the blood has dried. An officer leads him to a desk and offers a seat. “So you are saying you were robbed.” The officer asks.

“Yes.”

“Where did this happen?”

“A few blocks away. Outside of Jacks Sports Bar after closing.”

“You’ve been drinking?”

“Well ya it’s a sports bar. I was watching the game.”

“With friends?”

“No it’s a work night I went alone.”

“What was the final score?”

“The what, the final um… I don’t remember.”

“Okay let’s see if I have the gist. You went to a bar alone to watch the game. You have drunk so much you can’t remember the score. I can plainly see you are wearing an expensive suit. So people know you have money. Clearly you were asking for it. What do you think was going to happen dressed like that and drunk this time of night?”

“What? Hey I was robbed at gun point!”

“So you say. When did you say this happened again?

“Late, midnight maybe.”

“You said at closing before. Your story keeps changing.”

“I did?”

“How’d you get the wound on the side of your head?”

“He hit me with his gun before leaving.”

“You just let him hit you. A big guy like you. You expect me to believe this?”

“What the hell? He took my fucking wallet!”

“Now that’s your claim and you were under the influence, alone wearing an expensive suit late at night. You can’t even remember the score of the game. Know what I think? I think you got drunk, misplaced your wallet and fell down when they kicked you out. You don’t want to have to admit how you got the injury at work, I bet  you have a little drinking problem don’t you  and this would be grounds to fire you. So you came here to file a false report."

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Some jerk took my wallet at gun point and pistol whipped me for his trouble!”

“You need to settle down. Let’s say for sake of argument I believe you. And truth be told I am nowhere near believing you, but for sake of argument let’s say you are telling the truth. Do you have his name?”

“His name? He’s an armed robber I didn’t exchange pleasantries with the man. What the hell?”

“I see, you don’t have his name so we can’t get his side of it. That is convenient.”

“Are you kidding me! His side?”

“There are always two sides to these kinds of things. And let’s be honest. You don’t act like you were really robbed.”

“Are you fucking kidding me!? “

“I told you to settle down. I won’t tell you again!”

“You know what, fuck this, fuck you, fuck this whole thing, I’m out of here!” He stands to walk out.

“Hey you are not going anywhere. You are under arrest for making a false report.”

Yes, this does happen...far too much.  The links below will bring up two experiences.  One of the reasons so many sexual assaults go unreported is the fear no one will believe the victim or worse punish the victim for false report.

                The responsibility for rape does not fall upon what you wear, where you go, or even if you were intoxicated or the time. The responsibility for rape rests entirely on the rapist. I wonder how many would be shocked to find one is more likely to be raped in the safety of her/his own home by someone she/he knows than anyplace else. 

Wrongly charged with making a false report:

http://www.cotwa.info/2012/12/woman-wrongly-charged-with-making-false.html

http://forums.officer.com/t163766/

I recently read an article where a group of men were asked what they did to prevent getting raped. The guys just looked around with a wtf look on their faces. Then the women were asked the same question and almost every hand shot up. We have it backward in this country. Women should not have to do things to protect themselves from rape; men need to be taught rape is unacceptable.

Rapes do not occur because the woman did something wrong. Rape occurs because the rapist chooses to rape. Rape is about power not sex. Let me say that again because most people cannot grasp this simple concept. RAPE IS ABOUT POWER NOT SEX. It has nothing to do with what we are wearing, where we go or at any particular time of day or night we choose to go there. In fact most rape occurs in the safety of our homes by people we know.  Did you know that? In the safety of our homes rape is perpetrated by spouses,  family members, a neighbor, even the gas man or the like.

We live in a rape culture. Misogyny is king. You want to be safe; you want your mother, wife, daughter to be safe. Then create a new mindset. Make a paradigm change. Show the female as valuable despite the dogma of religion and society. Show the female as equal. As long as women are seen as less than in our society, women will be treated as less than. We live in a society where women are sexualized as the norm. They are prized not for their minds but for their sexual appeal and criticized when they take control of this sexual appeal.

Our societal view is so skewed, we think a woman overly sexualized, even victimized in an ad to sell a product is acceptable, but show a mother breast feeding, one of the single most amazingly beautiful  experiences one can witness and groups especially right wing religious groups come out of the wood work to proclaim it as filth. “What am I supposed to tell my children” one mother proclaims aghast at this horridly disgusting spectacle.

I would like to offer some options of what can be said to address this situation besides covering a child’s eyes and running away thus deeply engraining this child with the idea of a woman suckling her young is the worst thing that can be witnessed.  For example, “I know right? Isn’t this beautiful?”  “She is creating a special bond to last a lifetime.”  “She is feeding her child the most nutritious food she can.”  It is not that difficult people.

You want to protect your mother, daughter, sister, yourself? Change how you look at women, change how you think about woman, change everything you have been taught. Only then will things change.

2% of all rape claims are false. 2% this is equal to false reports in most other crimes. If a woman claims rape there is a 98% likelihood she is telling the truth.  Stop blaming the victim. Start targeting the rapist, this mutherfucker enabled by a willing society and hold him accountable!

The Gay Agenda in its Entirety

"Many people, especially ignorant people, want to punish you for speaking the truth, for being correct, for being you. Never apologize for being correct, or for being years ahead of your time. If you’re right and you know it, speak your mind. Speak your mind. Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is still the truth."

                                                                       -Mohandas Gandhi

The Sundance-MacGregor Project

The Gay Agenda in its Entirety

Many have heard of this Gay Agenda and many fear it. This insidious agenda is blamed for everything from moral decay to the crash of the economy. It is claimed to be Un-American and a tool of the left to undermine our sacred American ideals.  After careful research I have confirmed this Gay Agenda and I have recorded my findings.

The Gay Agenda:

Item first: Seek and obtain equal rights all other Americans possess.

Item second: Refer to item first.

If you are a religious conservative your wildest fears may be realized. This chips away at your belief that freedom and equality only belong to those who believe as you do. Though this may be at the core of your religious belief, contrary to your lies and chosen ignorance America was provably NOT founded on your bias and hate filled beliefs.

We have been here from the beginning. The LGBTQ* community helped to found this country long before the LGBTQ* was a cohesive unit. We helped this country to grow and flourish. We fought and died in her wars. We were and are war heroes. We have held office and have been responsible citizens. We have taught our nation’s children, designed our nation’s cities, enforced our nation’s laws and lived utterly invisibly for over 200 years. 

In return all we want is what was promised us in the begging. Our “unalienable rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  We want nothing more, nothing special, simply fully equal civil rights.

"The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts.

One's right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections."

                                                          Justice Robert H. Jackson 

The Sundance-MacGregor Project 2012