Stop Whistling, Start Listening

Why women don’t report rape

All the discussions on Slutwalks lately has opened up discussions about rape and the focus on what victims may have been wearing or how they have been behaving. However, the treatment in the international press of late has thrown a massive spotlight on how women who allege they have been attacked are viewed.

Going back to August of last year, two women accused Wikileaks founder Julian Assange of sexual molestation and an offence which, under Swedish law, is defined as rape. That Assange was engaged in leaking sensitive documents to the press meant that people inevitably worried that this was a set-up, meant to discredit him, but the treatment of his accusers in the press and on the internet went far beyond conspiracy theory. Victims of sex attacks are usually granted anonymity in Europe (it’s the law in the UK), but the internet means that’s hard to enforce and it was abandoned in this case. A major reason why sex attacks are under-reported is because their sexual history and previous behaviour are often used as ways to discredit their version of events. In the case of these women, they were not only named on the internet but their CVs, tweets and careers were raked through, and photos of them were published online as they were accused of setting up a CIA-linked honeytrap. Assange should and hopefully will, get his day in court, but these women deserve no less and shouldn’t have been subjected to this kind of venom online.

The recent shocking case of Dominique Strauss-Kahn has taken many by surprise. He was a well respected politician in France as well as being head of the IMF. He was a known  as ‘a great seducer of women’ but in France that’s certainly a compliment and there’s a massive leap from being a successful seducer, to an alleged attempted rapist. However, the behaviour towards his alleged victim has, again, been absolutely appalling. Unlike Assange’s accusers, this woman is not in any position of power. She was a chamber-maid at the hotel who alleges that she entered Strauss-Kahn’s room in the course of her work, and was attacked. In France in particular, this version of events just isn’t believed and the conspiracy theories are out in force again.

Worse the French press have not only named the woman, but in some quarters her teenage daughter too. They have done this, apparently, to end the conspiracy theories but it’s hard to see how this adds up. All this is in a country where the press can’t print photos of an accused in handcuffs. The French press have also indulged in discussions of the woman’s alleged ‘hotness’.

The treatment of his accuser in the US press hasn’t been much better. While they couldn’t name her, they have discussed the building where she lives in so much detail as to make it immediately identifiable. The New York Post has also reported that she lives in a building exclusively for adults with HIV or AIDS, effectively outing her medical status as well. While none of this is confirmed it’s absolutely appalling that a woman who alleges she went through a terrifying and violent ordeal should be treated and talked about in this way.

This is why women don’t report rapes and why women in particular don’t report rapes against powerful men. Merely having consensual sex with a powerful man is enough to have your name, photos, reputation and lifestyle torn apart by the press (see Imogen Thomas or the mother of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s child for further reference) but to accuse them of behaving in a violent or predatory way means that you surrender your right to privacy and become the immediate subject of attack all over again. This is what women who aren’t accusing celebrities learn about what happens to victims. They know that if they accuse someone of attacking them that they will be discredited and disbelieved. That prosecutors, police and possibly the press will want to know about their history, their sex life, their every flaw. It will be assumed that there’s a motive behind their allegation such as the old rape-myths of morning-after regret or a woman-scorned. If this is how we behave towards victims who accuse attackers in the public eye then what hope to regular women have?