"A MAN CUT A WINDOW SCREEN, BROKE INTO A 58-YEAR-OLD WOMAN'S house and raped her Wednesday. The victim, who lives near IndependenceAvenue and Benton Blvd. told police she awoke around 3:30 am and found a stranger standing in her bedroom. He held her down... and raped her. He also tried to steal jewelry from her arm and push her into the shower."
This is a very typical story. On any given day, if you read any major newspaper, you will find stories like this one. You will rarely read the follow-up story of aftermath trauma (LIKE THIS) or the story of catching the guy and his conviction. Many days the Star has three or four rape reports briefly listed.
You will hear people say
that half, or most women are lying, like those who commented on THIS POST or THIS POST- (beware, some of the comments are obscene).
But the data so not support this claim, and the K-State Women's Center is gathering and reviewing, and i will soon post, the FBI, police, psychological, criminological, and other research data showing that while false reports occur--obviously to great harm to the innocent-- the crime of violence against women is an enourmous problem that must be more forcefully dealt with in spite of such horrible lies.
Click here and
you will read one of the first posts i ever wrote, one of the reasons i started writing this blog:
The frustration of women who endure or who have loved ones who endure this shameful crime only to be quieted by the public who do not want to hear about it "again and again."
The loss of freedoms we have come to take for granted--
The sadness underlying our society, in its continuation of the quiet layer of intimidation and violence that results in an unconscious second class status among young women. (in older women it is concious)
Some will and have commented about the "young women" who put themselves in harm's way by going outside at night, by drinking alcohol, by trusting new acquaintences, or by doing all three of these things while wearing skimpy clothing. I will not revisit that issue at the moment (other than to wonder why are we not rather focusing on raising up men of honor, rather than rewarding the smarmy nastiness of successful Charlie Sheen/Kobe/Roethlisberger-- and accepting rather than being alarmed at the way the females of our species are treated, regardless of how they are dressed) ;
For a moment, let's not focus on the extenuating circumstances, the mitigating situations, the excuses--
but instead
I will ask about the others,
- like the 58 year old woman whose screen was cut out.
- Like the elevated risk of rape that those women in wheelchairs endure.
- The levels of abuse of elderly women;
- Like the shameful levels of sexual abuse of our own species' children,
