The Institutional Permissiveness in the Sanctions for Rape

 

We presume that rape, sexual assault, or sexual violence are straightforwardly and self-evidently bad, wrong, and harmful.

 

Yet, the way we commonly doubt, dispute, and deny rape, and diminish, deride, and denigrate those who have been raped, make the reality of rape anything but clear-cut. Worse is how those harmed and violated are both doubly blamed and doubly punished – by attackers and by responders - for the wrongs done against them. Worse still is how institutions for whom safety and protection are priorities, routinely and procedurally permit rape, promote (in the most literal sense) rapists, and publicly persecute the victims and survivors of sexual violence.

 

Why are there so many discrepancies between how we feel about sexual violence and the perverse way we respond to sexual violence?

 

Follow the links for a sampling of the contradictions and hypocrisies baked into our institutional responses to sexual violence.

 

The U.S. Military

 

Perhaps the single best place to start is the recent documentary, The Invisible War.

 

Learn more about how rape has been normalized as an occupational hazard of military service:

 

Judge dismisses epidemic of rape in military case

 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/12/13/judge-dismisses-epidemic-of-rape-in-military-case.html

 

Review recent facts and findings that continue to make the documentary newsworthy three years after its release.

 

2014 Facts on United States Military Sexual Violence

http://www.protectourdefenders.com/factsheet/

 

Fact Sheet: Sexual Assault in the U.S. Military

www.equalitynow.org/sites/default/files/FactSheet_Military_Sexual_Assault_EN.pdf

 

 

The Criminal Justice System

 

As an example of how the criminal justice system has normalized rape – relegating sexual violence as “theft of services”:

 

Phila. Bar slams judge in rape case Teresa Carr Deni had its support for a third term. Then she reduced a charge to theft of a prostitute's services

http://articles.philly.com/2007-10-31/news/25232857_1_sexual-assault-charges-city-judge-gunpoint

 

Judge criticized for considering gang rape on prostitute theft of services

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2007/11/01/judge-criticized-for-considering-gang-rape-on-prostitute-theft-services.html

 

Raping a sex worker at gunpoint is just theft of services, says Chicago Sun-Times columnist

http://www.thefrisky.com/2015-09-14/raping-a-sex-worker-at-gunpoint-is-just-theft-of-services-says-chicago-sun-times-columnist/

 

When a sex worker is raped, its rape not theft of services

http://www.salon.com/2015/09/14/when_a_sex_worker_is_raped_its_rape_not_theft_of_services/

 

 

The Catholic Church

 

The story behind the 'Spotlight' movie

http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/movies/spotlight-movie

 

Roman Catholic Church Sex Abuse Cases

http://www.nytimes.com/topic/organization/roman-catholic-church-sex-abuse-cases

 

What’s the State of the Church’s Child Abuse Crisis?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/whats-the-state-of-the-churchs-child-abuse-crisis/