I really have come to believe that my brain is just functioning on a different wavelength than everyone else’s today. From Michael Vick being re-hired by Nike to the news that Dominique Strauss-Kahn had been released on his own recognizance, I really just can’t understand what the hell is going on.
I understand that there are certainly political motivations for wanting Dominique Strauss-Kahn out of the IMF picture. I get that. But what I don’t understand is why the young woman who accused him of forcing her to perform oral and anal sex is getting such a bum rap – and this time, not only from the usual suspects.
We know that victim-blaming and doubting is a major problem in the U.S., especially among the media. Comparisons between Strauss-Kahn and the Duke lacrosse team are emanating from the men’s rights types, and we heard today that the case could be dropped due to credibility issues from the victim – but what are those issues?
Reuters reported this morning that the prosecution had detailed the “inconsistencies” in the accuser’s testimony, relating to events that occurred immediately after the alleged rape. Reuters said that “The accuser initially told prosecutors and the grand jury she fled to the hallway after the incident and waited for Strauss-Kahn to leave, and informed a supervisor of what happened shortly after, prosecutors said.
“The complainant (accuser) has since admitted that this account was false and that after the incident in Suite 2806, she proceeded to clean a nearby room and then returned to Suite 2806 and began to clean that suite before she reported the incident to her supervisor.”
LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT. She was scared and didn’t know what to do, so she kept going on with her job? Well hot damn if that isn’t the strangest thing that could ever happen. AND ALSO LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT – she told prosecutors that she told her supervisor right away. Again, what an oddity, considering that rape victims are typically not believed when they do something else (like shower, or try to freaking compose themselves) before reporting to the authorities.
Other points of contention – her West African upbringing in a hut, her lack of education, and her immigration status. Don’t even get me started. Let me guess? She had a boyfriend that she once had sex with, too?
Sheesh. I am overwhelmed by the lack of compassion and blatant victim-blaming by the media. I engaged in a conversation on Twitter with @irincarmon about the subject, and was really disappointed by what she had to say. Below is a brief summary of our exchange:
@aemccarthy RT @Reuters: FLASH: Dominique Strauss-Kahn released on own recognizance // This is the treatment alleged rapists get. Victims get badgered.
@irincarmon @aemccarthy @jaclynf to be fair, he didn’t exactly get red carpet treatment before prosecutors changed their minds about the case.
WHUT? The dude is staying in a palatial New York apartment while the victim gets doubted, dragged through the mud, and her entire personal history indicted. Strauss-Kahn, on the other, hand gets a different treatment – with the papers wondering whether or not his “flirtatious nature” reveals “something more sinister.”
When we live in a society where the vast majority of rape victims never see their attackers brought to justice, you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t have sympathy for the foreign dignitary that had to do a perp walk and spend a night in Rikers. That just sounds terrible. Meanwhile, the rape victim has to live with what she describes as a brutal sexual attack.
Of course, he says it’s consensual and that this is all a giant political ploy by the United States. And maybe it is. But with NO other crime do we give the accused so much leeway – think of murder cases. Scott Peterson was guilty (in the eyes of the media) before he could even step foot in a courtroom. Same for Casey Anthony.
I’m not saying that pre-judging someone’s innocence or guilt is a good thing, but it would be nice for the victim to at least have the benefit of the doubt of the public! But no, until we get rid of this victim-blaming and ultimately misogynistic paradigm rape victims – men OR women – are always going to be treated like crap.
Ultimately, we’ll never know what happened in that hotel suite. But we can hope that the victim, and perhaps Strauss-Kahn’s other alleged victims can at least get justice – although it looks like that might be a pipe dream at this point.
(SIDE RANT: Am I the only one who finds the use of “chamber maid” to describe the victim highly patronizing? It seems like they repeat it over and over again – for what purpose?)
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Amy is a social media strategist living in Dallas, Texas. She likes music, trashy TV, and ladybiz. tweet: @aemccarthy |
I agree with you. It’s hard for me to believe that the U.S. government, or Strauss Kahn’s political opponents, or whoever, would cook up a huge, ridiculously convoluted plot that involved hiring a woman to impersonate a poor West African immigrant, getting her hired at an exclusive hotel, having her go to the guy’s room and engage in a “consensual” sexual encounter with him, and then cry rape.
It’s much more likely that this case is what it looks like – a known sexual harasser (and possibly rapist), elite and entitled politician trying to force himself on yet another powerless woman. It’s disgusting.
I am SOOOO glad you wrote about this! It has been making me insane since the news broke. DSK has a right to due process of law, as does any defendant, no matter the charge. BUT, that does not change the fact that she could be Satan incarnate and it is still possible that he raped her.
Given that the American justice system is plagued with bias and that the deck is stacked against defendants, particularly if they are poor or of color, justice demands that we err on the side of caution when it comes to convicting someone of a crime. Better that a thousand guilty people go free than one innocent person be wrongly convicted, but to dismiss a claim of sexual assault simply because the victim isn’t what our *fucked up* society views as good enough to get raped is just sick.
Prosecutors found out allegedly victim lied before, created another rape story when she applied for immigration. Also they found $100,000 in her bank acount, and discovered phone conversation with drug dealers while talkin about financial benefits of charges agains Dominique Strauss
politically I can understand why this is happening, because this accusation will completely and utterly break his credibility, marriage la la al- which is WHY there is such a big hoo haa, and the t*** can afford lawyers and to mess with the media.
they will scrape the barrel with excuses, but I think the evidence is too strong to ignore: notorious harrassor, lack of self controller,
and why exactly would she make it up? an Islamic woman reporting rape? not a lie.
Thank you for this extremely well-written piece!
I stumbled upon your site through a friend and I absolutely love it! As an avid feminist and reader, this looks like a great blog for me. I will be back
I really loved this piece, considering that I was kind of on the fence myself. I actually just had a very long conversation with a Frenchman about this today, and this article was useful. Thanks!