What kind of message is the military court (in this case) sending to the American public? That confidentiality should be thrown out the window? That victims of rape don't have any recourse to protect their private conversations with their counselors from becoming an open dialog for any court who demands access to them?
Rape is already one of the most least reported crimes in our country. Court rulings like these will only make it more common for victims of violence to remain silent and not seek the help of trained counselors and their right to justice.
Silent Victims…
One of the most startling aspects of sex crimes is how many go unreported. The most common reasons given by victims for not reporting these crimes are the belief that it is a private or personal matter and that they fear reprisal from the assailant.
In 2003, only 39% of rapes and sexual assaults were reported to law enforcement officials — about one in every three. [2003 NCVS]
Of sexually abused children in grades five through twelve, 48% of the boys and 29% of the girls had told no one about the abuse—not even a friend or sibling. [Commonwealth Fund Survey of the Health of Adolescent Girls, 1998.]
Don't let Jennifer Bier stand alone. Show your support.
Every two and a half minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted.
3 comments:
Military law is a fairly putrid thing in all respects. It does not surprise me that they are busy trying to trample over the civilian liberties as well as the rights of their own members.
It's particularly distasteful when it's with regard to such a sensitive matter. The military never won any prizes for sensitivity though.
The whole thing just upsets me ...
No matter how far I think we've come as a civilized nation, something like this always sets us back another thousand years.
And it's beyond me, even after everything we've come to know and learn, how we manage to still attach the blame heavily to the victim's shoulders ... How intrusive we expect to dig into her life and her thoughts while the perpetrator of the crime sits back and watches the government do all the work of defending him.
Robbers get more time than rapists ... Rapists are robbers who get a pat on the head and told, "Just don't do it again."
Can not say that's true here, rapists are considered the highest of scum, people generally regard it as badly as murder. Indeed, under British law it carries the same maximum sentence - life.
Though it can be hard to prove at times, and there are a fair few cases of people crying wolf which causes problems for genuine cases. You certainly don't see the authorities protecting them though.
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