It’s A Serious Matter
On June 7th, Tom Brock posted a blog entry about his local newspaper and how one of the reporters at the Jacksonville Daily News made a huge mistake by naming a sexual assault victim. The author of the article in question answered Tom’s blog entry with one of his own. And Tom has defended his original position. This won’t come as a surprise to those of you who have been reading my blog for any length of time, but I’m going to defend Tom’s hefty criticisms of Mr. Kay, the journalist who outed the victim. Tom’s like the little brother I never had…and never really much wanted either, but that’s beside the point and I’m verging on a major digression here…so I’ll return to the subject at hand without any further ado.
While there is no law protecting the outing of the victim of a sex crime, most newspapers follow an ethical code to not name victims in rape/sexual assault cases, although that “code” has been the subject of some debate for decades. Some people might argue that we don’t bat an eye at the fact that the names of victims of burglaries, assaults, muggings, etc. are revealed in the news every day. Why should the name of the victim of rape or sexual assault be any different. After all, it was a crime.
Well, let me try to ’splain it to you, Lucy. Victims of burglaries, robberies, muggings, etc. are rarely blamed for the crime committed. When was the last time a bank teller was made to feel guilty about the fact that she handles money every day and, therefore, was robbed.
“Tell me, Ms. Smith, isn’t it true that you were handling the money from your till right there in plain sight of the accused…tempting him with those tasty twenties?”
Yet, time and again, law enforcement personnel, journalists, defense attorneys, and others blame rape victims, wholly or in part, for the crimes perpetrated upon them.
How short was the skirt you were wearing? When was the last time you had sex? How many sexual partners have you had in the past? Were you wearing underwear on the day of the alleged attack? The intrusive and, in my opinion, completely irrelevant questions get asked. All. The. Time.
Is it any wonder, then, that many rape victims don’t come forward and report the crimes? It doesn’t surprise me in the least. Who wants to go through that? It’s like being raped all over again. Except the pain is psychological and not physical the second time around. And the third. And the fourth. Because the victim has to recount the assault over and over again.
Rape is an act of violence, but, unlike any other violent crime, the weapon used is sex. And let’s face it, a hell of a lot of Americans believe anything having anything to do with sex should be only talked about behind closed doors and, even then, in very low, hushed whispers. Rape is a crime that has a much more personal and private aspect to it than any other crime, which means, in my opinion (and apparently also in the opinion of most newspapers in this country) that means the victims deserve to be treated in a slightly different way than the victims of other, less “personal,” crimes.
I’ve heard some of the arguments in favor of releasing the names of victims: that the anonymity perpetuates the stigma and the cycle of shame and may cause less empathy. Maybe once we work on removing the stigma and shame in other ways (educated and compassionate law enforcement officers and a legal system that does not allow the victim to be blamed anymore than any other victim of any other crime is blamed), then we can discuss naming the victims in rape cases. The victims shouldn’t be forced to play the first card here. But until then, if victims want to come forward themselves and talk about the rapes, that should be their choice and their choice alone. And newspaper reporters and editors (I don’t think Mr. Kay should accept the sole responsibility for his transgression) need to be hypervigilant in this regard because, while Mr. Kay tells us that he feels sick about his error and that he dreaded going into work today, I’m more concerned with how the victim felt when she saw her name in print.
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