Fighting The Rape Epidemic

Fighting the Rape Epidemic

COMING OUT OF THE DARK AGES

This article was written in compassion for the countless number of sisters who have been raped -- many brutally, even fatally -- in a society where Justice seems not only blind, but deaf to their cries of anguish.

FIGURES SPEAK WHILE WOMEN DO NOT DARE

Consider some undeniably mind-boggling statistics: According to FBI estimates, in Ann Arbor alone, nearly 1300 forcible or attempted rapes occurred in 1970-73. Of this exorbitant figure, only 128 women stepped out of the shadows of silence to report their plight to the police. 128! Can you imagine well over 1000 residents having their cars, stereos or money ripped off and hiding in shame from the police? Ridiculous! But is the value of a human being not above that of a stereo?

The inequity between the two situations is based on a value system which ranks property rights above a woman's right to protect her own body. A policeman is more likely to believe you if you report a robbery than a rape, even thou though people have been known to actually fake robbery of their own property to cash in on the insurance benefits, while a woman has very little to gain from reporting a rape -- not money, not sympathy and, at present, hardly a chance of justice.

Many women fear retribution from a rapist who may be reported but not convicted. In point of fact, this fear is pretty valid when you consider of all reports of rape in Ann Arbor over a 3 year period (1970-72) only one (count it, 1) rape conviction resulted.

As if things aren't already bad enough, the national increase in rapes leads all other violent crimes for steady, monstrous growth. According to the FBI, from 1967-72 the increase rate was a whopping 70%. In fact, criminologists estimate that one rape occurs in this country every 60 seconds. Before you finish reading this article a number of women will have joined the ranks of victims so emotionally scarred by a violent act that they will probably lock it inside in shame, to fester like a cancer on the heart. A number of sisters have suffered the horrifying, unspeakable anguish of the age-old male diversion called the "gang-bang". Did you think this shocking practice was limited to motorcycle mamas 'pulling train'? Not so. In Patterns of Forcible Rape, Menachim Amir traces this phenomena to many segments of society, college campuses and suburbs not excluded. He further estimates its frequency at as high as 40% of all rapes, with 90% of them being premeditated among the men. An undetermined number of women die every year at the hands of rapists who carry their brutality one step further by murdering their victims.

GERMS OF THE RAPE SICKNESS

Contrary to popular myth, rape is not a mere "sex crime" which women secretly crave. In the same vein as murder and assault, it is a violent crime against the body of a human being, executed with malice and forethought. Dr. Amir's study not only found 90% of gang rapes to be premeditated, often with total humiliation and destruction of the girls "reputation" as a motive, but it was also found that 58% of single rapists similarly pick out their victims in advance. These were not crimes of impulsive, uncontrollable lust, but rather of hate. A new Jersey State Prison official, Dr. William Pendergast states that all of the rapists he studied had available sexual relationships, and certainly didn't need to rape someone out of unfulfillable physical need. In yet another study, it was found that 60% of the rapists had been married men leading normal sexual lives at the time of their crime.

Yet despite the basic hostile and brutal nature of rape, the prevalent notions persist that women want to be raped, go so far as to entice the rape, and that therefore it is hardly to be classified with other crimes of violence. It is certainly not women who nurture this fallacy, one which would seem ridiculous if it wasn't so tragic in consequence. The very idea that a woman could enjoy being attacked by a man she is not attracted to, who treats her in a brutal and humiliating manner, and in whom she may recognize prior motives of hate, possibly murder, is not only stupid, it's sick.

In many ways, these are some pretty sick times we are living in. For example, in the popular media, movies in particular, sex and violence share top billing and are presented in such a manner that the sometimes start to overlap. When the flashy cop or government agent need to get their rocks off, they do either of two things, or both. (1) They kill someone, or beat him to within an inch of his life, (2) They make it with one of their many "chicks", sex objects in the best Hugh Hefner tradition. Slowly, the germ of an idea grows that perhaps sex is to be equated with violence, which helps channel basic violence down the avenue of rape. This becomes especially easy when you take into consideration the total socialization process of women, which teaches them to be passive and weak, therefore exploitable victims who won't fight back, (and probably love it anyways, right?) Wrong.

EMOTIONAL RAPE AT THE HANDS OF THE POLICE

Police, like all of us, live in a society chock-full of destructive and sexist attitudes about rape. The thing that makes the police more harmful in the total scheme of things than the average person is their position. In order to even ask for justice the first channel a rape victim must file through is the police station, and for many, it's like entering the first gate of hell. Many women who've been through this trip have reported the following composite description of mental rape at the police station:

You walk into the station. To begin with you're somewhat in a state of shock because you've just been raped, and you're scared shitless because all the policemen are males, who seem more intent on humiliating you than on finding your assailant. For their report, they seem to be asking too many questions. Why are they probing for all these painful, exact details? "How long did he hold you down?" "Did he have an orgasm?" "What verbal response did you make during this time?" It dawns on you, FUCK! they either don't believe you or they're trying to ridicule you! Something's wrong here, no question about it. One of them is leering at you, quietly undressing you with his eyes. The other is still rattling off stupid irrelevant questions, "How much sexual experience have you had in the past?" "Oh, you don't want to answer that one, eh? Come on honey, now tell us, just exactly WHAT were you doing on the street at that late hour anyway? What were you wearing at the time, that cute little number ya' got on now? ..." The sound of his voice trails off. There is only so much abuse a person can take before they break down.

Many women report that while the police are asking excessive and irrelevant personal questions like "Were you wearing underwear at the time?" they totally bypass asking even basics about the rapist, such as "What did he look like?"

If even one woman were to go through this excruciating experience, it would be one woman too many, and reason enough to put an end to the police's power and position to thus abuse a rape victim. Far more than one, or even several dozen, such complaints have been lodged. Little wonder that under the present system, rape victims seem to avoid reporting the crime to the police at all costs, as in Ann Arbor's own 128/1300 ratio of "copping out".

COURTS GUILTY OF MENTAL AND LEGAL RAPE

For those who are not broken into submission by the general insensitivity so often shown rape victims by the police, now it's the courts turn to try. If you thought the treatment at the station was humiliating, imagine it with a substantial audience, and a shrewd, cross-examining attorney. No other body of criminal proceedings is so consistently run in the format of a 3-ring circus. For example, a lawyer's pet project is usually to make it look like a woman "enticed" and "provoked" the rapist. Can you possibly envision a lawyer similarly smirking at an assault victim, suggesting that the fact that he carried lots of money with him shows that he was "asking" to be robbed and beaten? It makes as much sense as chiding a rape victim for wearing attractive clothing or walking home alone at 2am, and suggesting that she was trying to "provoke" an assault on herself.

But aside from the attitudes or motivations of the rape attorney (as much a product of a sexist society as the policeman) he would not have as much power to publicly humiliate a victim if the present laws didn't provide him this power. Two things most consistently fuel his efforts, both based in the present definition of rape as a mere "sex crime" which the victim must prove "(1) by force, (2) against her will." A rape victim not only is given heavier burden of proof in this than in any other crime proceedings, but it often proves a damn near impossible burden of proof. For example, if you say you were held up at gunpoint this is accepted without question. But if a rape victim was raped at gunpoint, because she has no physical proof of this use of force and further cannot show, by way of visible scars or whatever, that she did resist such force, her case will probably get thrown out of court. Why this blatant, gross inequity? Further, why does this "double standard", persist -- a legal monument to sexism!

The second part of the phrase "against her will" is the semantic darling of unscrupulous attorneys. It is here in that they are given the go-ahead to rape a woman's reputation by making slurs on her morality, thus shattering her credibility in having to prove that the assault was against her will. Lawyers have a whole bag of tricks for making it seem like the woman was "asking" to be raped. For instance, if she had had prior social contact with the rapist, or had been seen talking to him in a bar, he will theoretically equate this surface association by consent with a sex act by consent.

Michigan's present rape statute and the whole body of of case law attached to it dates unchanged from 1857, a good 60 years before women were "given" the vote, and at a time when many people hardly raised an eyebrow at the practice of owning black human beings like livestock. Women of 1857 were pretty much overtly regarded as a man's property much like the slaves. Have you ever wondered why the present rape laws makes no provision for a wife to charge her husband with rape, even though brutal marital rape does occur (especially with estranged partners)? Because the consciousness at the time the law was written reasoned that no man would rape and thus abuse his own wife anymore than he would burn his own barn, or murder a slave. The wife had nothing to say in the matter. The legal decks have traditionally been stacked against women as rape victims since the 19th century, even in light of a magnifying rape crisis. This inequity is not an isolated or insignificant phenomena but rather one arm of an entire system of subtle, institutionalized enslavement of human females. As such it is an unspeakable OUTRAGE against not only womankind but the entire human race, and must be corrected before it gets any worse.

WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT THE RAPE DISEASE?

Rape is as old a nemesis as war, poverty, and disease. What is new in our times, in this country, is that it is climbing to epidemic heights, and getting out of control FASTER THAN ANY OTHER CRIME. The present intensity of the rape scare is such that many sisters have expressed the fear of even going out for a walk at night.

When paranoia hits that close to home, we all feel it. Eventually people are moved to scream "Enough is Enough" and DO something about their oppression. While the progress that is being made to check the disease's spread has come about hand in glove with the growth of the Women's Liberation Movement, women are not the only ones involved. Many men have joined the ranks of the anti-rape movement out of concern for their female partners, friends, or family members.

NOW IS THE TIME TO RETIRE 1857 RAPE LAWS

The Michigan Women's Task Force on Rape is trying to attack the rape problem on a core level, by redefining the laws that define the system in which rape now flourishes. First and foremost, they call for an outright repeal of the 19th century Michigan rape statute, in light of its highly interpretable, loop-holed packed structure by which an attorney can in effect put the victim on trial; and also in light of its failure to aid in the control of rape.

On November 14 the Task Force met with House Judiciary members and presented an extensive, 20-page proposal: A Proposal for Criminal Reform in Response to Michigan's Rape Crisis. The proposal is the basic framework from which will be drawn up a Congressional bill to be introduced in Lansing this spring. The Task Force has further proposed an amendment to Senate Bill 93, which provides compensation for damages to victims of violent crimes.

While it is impossible to reproduce the Rape Reform proposal here, owing to its great length, it is possible to sum up the basic changes that form the core for equality of Justice to rape victims. Primarily it would unshackle the victim from the burden of responsibility of documenting proof that she didn't want the attack, or that she resisted it. It will redefine rape as a crime of violence against the body of another person, rather than a mere sex act which the woman must prove was "by force and against her will."

Further proposed are provisions for protection of married women who are separated from their husbands, redefining of the structure of punishment to be consistent with the severity of the crime committed (that is, lesser penal ties), and prohibiting law enforcement personnel from demeaning or threatening a victim, among other proposals.

The Women's Task Force on Rape is composed of volunteers, many working women or students at U.M. A spokeswoman for the group, Jan BenDor, emphasized that every person reading this can help them in their efforts. The most helpful assistance would be to personally contact your representatives in Lansing (see address and phone list posted this page), and push them to support the new legislation. Before the bill can go through it still needs a sponsor(s). If your representative in the Legislature learns that enough of his or her constituents want something supported they will sponsor and support it. So what are you waiting for?

FEMALE POLICE TO AID RAPE VICTIMS

As has already been shown, many women hold little credence with the police as agents of genuine aid and comfort to a rape victim. The Rape Education Committee of Ann Arbor's Women's Crisis Center has drawn up a proposal to establish an all-woman anti-rape unit, which would be free from the Police Department's authority structure. Also to be instituted would be free medical treatment for the victim plus advocacy and therapy, if desired. Also proposed are 24-hour transportation aid, better lighting and self-defense programs.

According to Cathy McClary of the Crisis Center, this proposal has generated much support, but can be helped along even further if readers CALL their City Council people and actively voice their support of it, as it is axiomatic that politicians move faster when pushed.

For those as yet unfamiliar with its services, the Women's Crisis Center is a voluntary organization which staffs a daily phone service (761-WISE) devoted largely to the counseling of rape victims, problem pregnancy and abortion cases, or just for people to rap about what's bugging them, from utter loneliness to marital battles (men too -- this is not a sexist organization!)

Further, the Center acts as a central, focal point for women's programs such as rape education, feminist therapy and consciousness raising groups, arranging speakers for women's groups, information referrals, and advocacy for women on welfare and ADC. The Center published a very thorough study on rape in their tabloid FREEDOM FROM RAPE, which can be obtained free at the office at 306 N. Division. In it, there's a number of other suggestions besides contacting your political "representatives", as to how everyone can help wipe out the plague:

*Join a self-defense class or urge your sisters to do so.

*Contact your local school principal and school board and pressure them to substitute self-defense classes for less important Phys. Ed. at all levels of school.

*If you or a female friend of yours must go to an area you do not feel safe in, arrange for transportation and or accompaniment of friends.

To many sisters who have already been raped -- Come out of of the shadows! Share your experience with other sisters who have been raped -- you hold this in common with a lot more people than you realize. Assert positive action to help prevent others from having to share the same painful knowledge of what it's like to be sexually assaulted. Urge your friends, male and female, to join in the struggle to slay the monster.

THE ULTIMATE SOLUTION

There is an ultimate solution to Rape, but it is realistic to see this finalization as being at least a generation away, the end reward of the efforts we crystallize now. For awhile the police and courts have proved ineffective in handling the problem, even revising the legalities of the situation, though urgently needed, will not hit at the source of the sickness. Because the source is in the values of the predominant society and culture.

These present conditions foster rape: (1) That men are taught to view and exploit women primarily as "sex objects" (2) Women have been taught not even to value themselves, and to think that they cannot make it unless they subordínate themselves to a man. The final clincher is that (3) Women are socialized into being passive and defenseless, while the norm for men is to become aggressive, even to degrees of violence. Before we can hope to alleviate the rape crisis significantly, these attitudes and the social order that propagates them need to be swept out the door, like yesterday's garbage.

Jean Hing

PHONE YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE FOR FREE

The Women's Task Force on Rape urges people to help support their efforts to change Michigan's rape laws. It is very simple -- you can do one of two things or both. (1) Find the address below of the person who represents you and write to him. Tell him that you are concerned about the magnitude of the rape problem and that you want him to support the Task Force's legislation to curb rape by changing a body of law that fosters it. If you live outside the Ann Arbor area, or Michigan itself, you might still write them, or contact the Congressperson of your choice. (2) Call to voice your support. It has the advantage of being much quicker and more direct -- telephone calls are hard to ignore. It also does not have to cost you a penny. There is a little publicized phone number set up as a service for people to be able to contact any elected official in Lansing without being charged for it. The fact that it is so little publicized seems to indicate that it wasn't meant for the common masses who elected these officials, but that's about to change! All you have to do is dial 769-6505 and give the last five digits of the person you want to contact -- and they'll put you through for free. Voila! For example, to contact Perry Bullard at 32577. It's that simple.

Senator Gilbert Bursley

Rm. 300 Capitol Office Bldg.

Lansing, Michigan

Phone: 373-2406

Rep. Hal Zeigler

Rm. 4 Capitol Office Bldg.

Lansing, Michigan

Phone: 373-1775

Rep. Perry Bullard

Mutual Bldg.

Lansing, Michigan

Phone: 373-2577

Gary Owen

Mutual Bldg.

Lansing, Michigan

Phone: 373-1771

Rep. Ray Smit

Rm. 220 Capitol Office Bldg.

Lansing, Michigan

Phone: 373-1729

Pull Quotes:

In Ann Arbor alone nearly 1300 forcible or attempted rapes occurred in 1970-73. Of this exorbitant figure, only 128 women stepped out of the shadows of silence to report their plight to the police.

The bill will redefine rape as a crime of violence against the body of another person, rather than a mere sex act which a woman must prove was "by force and against her will."