Someone is raped in the united every day. According to the Center of Disease Control and prevention, 19.3% of women have been raped at least once in their lives , and 2% of men have been raped during their lifetimes (Nearly 1 in 5 women raped). This statistic includes only the minority who have had the courage to come forward and talked about it. As we know rape has traumatic and devastating effects in people lives that have been assaulted making many women who have been assaulted or raped not to report it or seek for help. When we talk about rape or sexual assault, it is not just between individuals who do not know each other, sometimes sexual assault happens even among those who see each other frequently, it can happens with those you respect. …show more content…
The United States is a country that punishes severely sex offenders regardless who you are or how young you are. This slogan that says “no one is above the lord” is very true and applicable in the united. But with the case of Bill Cosby, the women who came out and claimed that they were raped or sexually assaulted waited for a long time before bringing the case to court. Therefore, their memory cannot keep up with the incident exactly how it happened which creates inconsistency in their statement. For example, Andrea Constand who said to the police that the incident took place at his house in the month of March and later said it happened approximately in January 2004 (Lounsberry,1).This inconsistency shows that there is some made up story and the jury will not take you by your word. In addition when rape happens, you first want to rush to the authority or to a hospital for some treatments and justice. In addition, important evidence, like a specimen collected from these women vagina could have helped for evidence that you have been raped by a particular person. Andrea Constand waited for a year before reported the issue to the authority which make the case little complicated as there is no evidence. Other accuser are telling stories that happened thirty years ago, and they said nothing which means they agreed with the incident reason they did not complained. …show more content…
These meeting show that somehow there was a consensual relationship between them that did not work out. For example Constand who claimed that Cosby drugged her and molested her in his house outside Philadelphia actually called Cosby twice on the Valentine’s Day; just a month after the incident took place (Lounsberry 1). Constand had visited and gave Cosby a gift of bath salt although she claimed it was from her friend (Lounsberry 1). This shows that Constand and Cosby were still good friends after she claimed she was assaulted. Another example is the case of Lili Bernard one of the victims who claimed that she was sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby in his apartment. Bernard said she was assaulted three times by Cosby and she affronted Cosby with her boyfriend, and they were intimidated by Cosby. Bernard did not take action at that time because she knew she had a goal to achieve, so they wanted to become famous trough Cosby. Because both Bernard and Constand relationship with Cosby did not work out, Constand filed a law suit. When we look back in the lives of these women who accused Cosby, they all have something in common which looking for a career or looking for a mentor who will help them succeed in their live. The women who accused Cosby had some type of benefit being around
No one ever knows who is telling the truth. It is difficult because of the evidence needed to convict someone along with taking long periods of time to properly, or not so much, evaluate the case. [5] Allison wanted to pursue a case, as a result of her wanting to go through with the case her lawyer told her to "prepare for the hardest, nasties fight of your life." (34) This is not a comforting thing to hear when every time Allison returns to her home town she realizes "I 'm mad at myself for not reporting the situation." (35) The question then becomes to do nothing and try to forget what happened, or to seek justice? Either battle is difficult but it turns into what that person can stand. In this case for Allison she reported it to the police station and although unsure at first she later continued to make a case out of it. She decided to fight this battle not only for herself but for justice for others as well. Her rape kit was still available, she still had proof that Beau had admitted to raping her. That was evidence but even so the case was to be
(NCVS, 2000.) This means that in over half of rape cases the victim knows their assailant. This becomes a major disadvantage when looking at rape shield laws the shield does not prevent from the courts to engage in questioning in previous sexual contact with the defendant. This implies that in over half of rape cases the victim’s sexual history will in fact be heard in court, due to the victim’s knowledge or previous relationship with the defendant. If a victim of rape has been convicted of a prostitution offense within the last three years, their sexual history is considered to be admissible in court. (Muldoon, 2012).This exception can also render problematic due to the simple fact that just because the individual was once engaging in illegal sexual activity does not mean that in the particular event the victim was not in fact raped. Rape Shield laws are also very vague and have many different exceptions and each state has different rules they go by, which can therefore produce what evidence and the protection of the victim to be different in each case.
According to CNN who interviewed five of the women that was ask why they took so long to report the allegations against Bill Cosby. One of the women stated she didn’t want to lose her job and she realizes he was famous and no one would believe her charged against Bill Cosby. The other three women decided they no longer want to remain silent to protect other women of becoming a victim of Bill Cosby sexual assault. Many of the women stated they would go out of their way not to see Bill Cosby on TV because it brings back such awful memories of the alleged drugged and sexual attack by Mr. Cosby.
Example: Calvin Johnson a 25 year old African American was wrongfully accused of four rape crimes in 1999, which he was given a life sentence plus 16 years. He was identified by four different women, which one of them claim she got a good look at him in her apartment. Being a young African American college student recently released from a prison for a burglary he committed in 1981;the authorities decided to focus on Calvin Johnson. The victim had already pleaded guilty to the crime and served 20 months. While incarcerated a detective brought a white female to his cell wanting to discuss other crimes in the neighborhood. Calvin refused to talk about crimes he had no knowledge about. Shortly, after this incident the white female identify Calvin
Ronald Cotton faced scrutiny and discrimination. This treatment did not begin with the Thompson case. Cotton had dated white women in the past, and it was known by his neighbors that he did so. Cotton knew that the town disapproved of his behavior and felt that by merely dating white women, the town felt he was guilty of other crimes (Thompson-Cannino, Cotton, p. 84). During the investigation, detectives judged Cotton based on his race, specifically commenting that he dated “little white girls” (Thompson-Cannino, Cotton, p. 82). Prosecutors
Individuals perceive the word rape negatively compared to” sexually assaulted” and was used four times in the text, three of which was included in the charges. The text manipulates the values of the audience by creating the impression that everyone agrees to the position of the article, making the audience more likely to victim-blame after reading it. It is also making it seem like Brock Turner’s conviction was a way to promote a feminist agenda rather than a just conviction for rape. By including quotes from a woman in the jury, the text shows to the audience that women are appalled by the victimization of Brock Turner and that all blame should go to Jane Doe for ruining the life of Turner. Furthermore, the article believes that the inadmissibility of Jane doe’s testimony adds on to the “unjust” charges against Brock
In “Scorched Earth”, an episode of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, a hotel maid accuses Robert DiStasio, an Italian diplomat, of rape. There is a significant amount of evidence that matches Robert and the maid, Miriam Deng, identifies the diplomat in a lineup. However, Deng’s credibility is weakened when a tape arises of her saying she did it for money, when she was convicted of prostitution two years before, and when a witness says he advised her to fabricate a gang-rape. The jury could not decide a verdict for the rape charge, but of unlawful imprisonment, and will probably spend a year in prison. (Wolf & Slovis, 2001)
John Foubert a Professor at Oklahoma State University claims, “more than sixteen percent of college women are raped” (Dick, 2015). Sexual assault has become a form of rape culture on campuses. It is a sociological concept where the schools perverse approach to this heinous crime is to silence and shame the victim, while protecting the institution at all costs. Associate Professor, Carolina Heldman of Occidental University explains, “there’s a lot of victim blaming which has a silencing effect on survivors” (Dick, 2015). As a result, 88 percent of women sexually assaulted on campus do not report (Dick, 2015).
Sexual assault and rape are a serious epidemic in today’s society; statistics show that one in five women will be the victim of rape or attempted rape in their lives. (United Nations Development Fund for Women, 2008). And the reporting of sexual assault to the police is exceptionally low and few offenders are successfully prosecuted this leads to a lack of support and education within the community. (Madeleine van der Bruggen,
Sources say “The once-beloved comedian today says that Tamara Green, Therese Serignese, Linda Traitz, Louisa Moritz, Barbara Bowman, Joan Tarshis, and Angela Leslie cost him his comeback. In a court documents Monday, the widely accused Bill Cosby asserts he “neither drugged nor sexually assaulted” the seven women. In fact, Cosby now is suing them back in federal court in Massachusetts for a wide range of damages and injunctions — including publicly “retracting and correcting” their accusations of sexual assault. And he is convinced it was their words and actions that cost him high-profile gigs on NBC and Netflix”(Patten.3). Cosby is claiming that these women not only slandered his name to the public, but they did it in hot pursuit of him losing his contracts with Netflix and NBC. Cosby also claims that he never sexually assaulted or drugged any of these seven women listed here and seeks punitive damages for the troubles he’s faced since these women have made their claims. The women not only assassinated Bill’s character, but did it in an attempt to increase their networth and relevance. Bill still fights a list of charges, and we still await on the Courts order, but hopefully justice will be served and the real crooks behind this will be exposed and punished for such a horrible plan to ruin another African-Americans name and
Butler was one of many to be accused of a crime he didn’t commit. In 1993, a woman got
One who believes that victims of sexual abuse should always be believed without question must understand any sense of doubt that the victim is lying. This means that the underlying causes for one to accuse Bill Cosby should be observed. Things like money and longed-after fame might lead the “victim” to create a false testimony.
Sexual assault is an offense that plagues many U.S. citizens. Although some studies show that rape is on the decline, other studies report that the phenomena actually occuring is that less rape victims are reporting the crime. In fact, approximately 68% of sexual assaults go unreported to the police according to the U.S. Department of Justice in a National Crime Victimization Survey from 2008-2012. It is common knowledge that rape victims are usually severely traumatized after the event, which leaves them susceptible to various emotions such as shame, anxiety, numbness, fear, denial, and guilt. Because of this, many rape victims decide to repress their experience and let it go unheard. However, not only does this prevent them from healing emotionally,
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Motivational Evidence and Relevancy in Rape Law." IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. 110.3 (1997): 16-17. Jstor. Web.