“The Rape” of Mr. Smith

“The Rape” of Mr. Smith
Unknown

The law discriminates against rape victims in a manner which would not be
tolerated by victims of any other crime.  In the following example, a
holdup victim is asked questions similar in form to those usually asked a
rape victim.

“Mr. Smith, you were held up at gunpoint on the corner of 16th & Locust?”
“Yes.”
“Did you struggle with the robber?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“He was armed.”
“Then you made a conscious decision to comply with his demands rather than
  to resist?”
“Yes.”
“Did you scream?  Cry out?”
“No.  I was afraid.”
“I see.  Have you ever been held up before?”
“No.”
“Have you ever given money away?”
“Yes, of course –”
“And did you do so willingly?”
“What are you getting at?”
“Well, let’s put it like this, Mr. Smith.  You’ve given away money in the
  past — in fact, you have quite a reputation for philanthropy.  How can
  we be sure that you weren’t  contriving  to have your money taken away
  from you by force?”
“Listen, if I wanted –”
“Never mind.  What time did this holdup take place, Mr. Smith?”
“About 11 p.m.”
“You were out on the streets at 11 p.m.?  Doing what?”
“Just walking.”
“Just walking?  You know that it’s dangerous being out on the street that
  late at night.  Weren’t you aware that you could have been held up?”
“I hadn’t thought about it.”
“What were you wearing at the time, Mr. Smith?”
“Let’s see.  A suit.  Yes, a suit.”
“An expensive suit?”
“Well — yes.”
“In other words, Mr. Smith, you were walking around the streets late at
  night in a suit that practically advertised the fact that you might be
  a good target for some easy money, isn’t that so?  I mean, if we didn’t
  know better, Mr. Smith, we might even think you were asking for this to
  happen, mightn’t we?”
“Look, can’t we talk about the past history of the guy who did this to
me?”
“I’m afraid not, Mr. Smith.  I don’t think you would want to violate his
  rights, now, would you?”

Naturally, the line of questioning, the innuendo, is ludicrous — as well
as inadmissible as any sort of cross-examination — unless we are talking
about parallel questions in a rape case.  The time of night, the victim’s
previous history of “giving away” that which was taken by force, the
clothing — all of these are held against the victim.  Society’s posture on
rape, and the manifestation of that posture in the courts, help account for
the fact that so few rapes are reported.

Only Rapists Can Prevent Rape

A lot has been said about how to prevent rape. Women should learn self-defense. Women should lock themselves in their houses after dark. Women shouldn’t have long hair and women shouldn’t wear short skirts. Women shouldn’t leave drinks unattended. Fuck, they shouldn’t dare to get drunk at all. Instead of that bullshit, how about:

If a woman is drunk, don’t rape her.
If a woman is walking alone at night, don’t rape her.
If a women is drugged and unconscious, don’t rape her.
If a woman is wearing a short skirt, don’t rape her.
If a woman is jogging in a park at 5 am, don’t rape her.
If a woman looks like your ex-girlfriend you’re still hung up on, don’t rape her.
If a woman is asleep in her bed, don’t rape her.
If a woman is asleep in your bed, don’t rape her.
If a woman is doing her laundry, don’t rape her.
If a woman is in a coma, don’t rape her.
If a woman changes her mind in the middle of or about a particular activity, don’t rape her.
If a woman has repeatedly refused a certain activity, don’t rape her.
If a woman is not yet a woman, but a child, don’t rape her.
If your girlfriend or wife is not in the mood, don’t rape her.
If your step-daughter is watching TV, don’t rape her.
If you break into a house and find a woman there, don’t rape her.
If your friend thinks it’s okay to rape someone, tell him it’s not, and that he’s not your friend.
If your “friend” tells you he raped someone, report him to the police.
If your frat-brother or another guy at the party tells you there’s an unconscious woman upstairs and it’s your turn, don’t rape her, call the police and tell the guy he’s a rapist.
Tell your sons, god-sons, nephews, grandsons, sons of friends it’s not okay to rape someone.
Don’t tell your women friends how to be safe and avoid rape.
Don’t imply that she could have avoided it if she’d only done/not done x.
Don’t imply that it’s in any way her fault.
Don’t let silence imply agreement when someone tells you he “got some” with the drunk girl.
Don’t perpetuate a culture that tells you that you have no control over or responsibility for your actions. You can, too, help yourself.

If you agree, re-post it. It’s that important.

Note:
This goes for any gendered rape, male on female or female on male or female on female or FTM on MTF or non gendered to dual gendered and so on and so forth….

- author unknown