Propping Up Rape Victims in Insincere Distraction in TSA Debate by WENDY MURPHY By contributor Wendy Murphy for The Patriot Ledger December 4, 2010 Of all the brouhaha about new TSA “naked X-ray” scanning machines and pat-down searches at the airport, the claim that has me scratching my head is that these types of screening procedures can cause devastating, retraumatization for people with a history of sexual assault. “Any type of violation of physical boundaries can set back a rape survivor in their treatment, in their recovery”, according to Amy Menna – a counselor and professor at the University of South Florida who has experience treating rape survivors. This sentiment has been repeated in umpteen news stories and columns, by writers who otherwise haven’t given a damn about rape victims for ANY reason. Where were these reporters when Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) policies were being adopted a few years ago, requiring victims to submit to genital swabbing for DNA by government agents during criminal rape investigations? It’s common sense that when a perpetrator admits the act occurred and claims a defense of “consent” (which is true 85% of the time), the need for DNA swabbing is virtually nonexistent. Yet, protocol requires all victims to submit to the process – often under threat of nonprosecution if they decline. Hardly helpful to the prosecution, the exam rarely reveals DNA from the attacker (most rapists do not complete the act) but often produces patently irrelevant DNA from OTHER men; usually a victim’s consensual sex partners from the recent past. Talk about intrusive! Where was Professor Manna or the ACLU when these policies were developed? And why are civil liberties types not outraged that the federal government now wants to spend the public’s money to go back in time and test ALL the DNA in so-called “backlogged” rape kits in every state in the nation – even in the 8 out of 10 cases where the victim KNEW her rapist! This means that 80% of the public’s money will not only be wasted but will also reveal the identities of men who may have been having affairs or using prostitutes. Tens of thousands of men should be very nervous that the government is planning to gather their DNA – not because they committed a crime but because they had sex with a woman who SUBSEQUENTLY became a victim of a sexual assault. And what’s with the silence from civil libertarians regarding the girl in West Virginia who was ordered by a judge to submit to a probing genital exam to determine whether she suffered injuries as a result of sexual abuse. Nevermind that the perpetrator admitted to violating the child and that all relevant research proves that sexually abused children almost never show injuries because their growing bodies heal so quickly, the court compelled the child to submit and suggested it was no big deal because women have such exams all the time. The prosecutor fought to stop the exam and argued to an appellate court that the child would have to be dragged kicking and screaming to a forced exam, to which one justice replied, “well then, that’s just what you’ll have to do”. Maybe all the silence about these REAL abuses of victims’ privacy rights is because nobody writing about the new TSA policies actually gives a rats patootie about women and children. Maybe the true critics of the new X-ray machines are drug dealers worried that their mules are now exposed to a greater risk of capture because the machines can uncover bags of dope stuffed inside body cavities. Drug dealers can’t exactly whine openly about x-ray machines at airports, so they prop up sympathetic rape victims as their proxy. This is not to say victims don’t feel an extra degree of anxiety from intrusive procedures, but the silly claim that their suffering is a big national problem is as far-fetched as the suggestion that a bunch of TSA pervs are saving up our naked x-ray images for distribution on a creepy network of stick-figure porn. Far more salacious full body porn is available, for free, on almost every electronic device – from phones to laptops – at the push of a button. The idea that a naked stick figure is worth anything at all is laughable. Too bad victims and anti-rape advocates can’t see that they’re being used in this story. Too bad they can’t find a way to point out the hypocrisy in those who claim to care so deeply about victims. Too bad they can’t use this contrived national debate to demand more respect for victims in circumstances that actually matter. Well said!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Do you have a question, comment or would like to share something from your heart that pertains to post? Please share, I will moderate it so if you don't want it published just say so.(remember we help others by sharing our experiences)