It was never going to stay secret for long... My 'trauma.' You've all probably assumed already would it could be. . . Some of you will be wrong. Please don't think that just because I'm doing this post on this particular article that I'm going to divulge any information into my own 'trauma;' I'm quite confident that the ins and outs will remain only for the ears of the professionals; there is no need for you all to know them. I don't want it to affect what you think of me and this blog.
So, here's the review:
The article began with a speech from the Director of Public Prosecutions as he explained that justice won't be served until people stop disbelieving women who claim to have been raped because it is, in fact, a lie scarcely told.
It went on to tell of how Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke, made distinctions in rape; naming the categories 'proper rape,' 'classic rape' and 'date rape.' Implying that only some types of rape were 'serious.' This just adds to how unsure women are about whether it 'counts' as rape if they know the person or have consented to the person in the past. It opens up a whole realm of uncertainty and a reluctance to report the crime. The saddest fact I read was that 89% of rapes go unreported.
The article then explained how traumatic the court hearing can be with the SURVIVOR having to tell a room full of strangers the intimate details and then to have to sit through being called a liar for hours on end. The violinist Frances Andrade committed suicide after being called a 'fantasist' by a witness in the rape trial. However, the guilty verdict is known to make the survivor feel a lot less to blame and more that it wasn't their fault after all.
The article was very opinionated but I agreed with every single point and opinion raised by the author; Zoe Williams. She raised the issue of advice being given to women to prevent them being raped rather than advice to the would-be attacker, this implies the survivor is in more control. Another point is that of rape jokes which personally, sicken me. Rape isn't funny or amusing so why use it as comedy?!
Finally, 38% of victims of serious sexual assault tell no one about their experience. Do not make someone you know into that statistic.
