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From: williams@kirk.DEC (John Williams 223-3402)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: The endless chain of victims
Message-ID: <200@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 10-Dec-84 17:29:38 EST
Article-I.D.: decwrl.200
Posted: Mon Dec 10 17:29:38 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 11-Dec-84 07:41:11 EST
Sender: daemon@decwrl.UUCP
Organization: DEC Engineering Network
Lines: 74



	Oh, sunny, come on!

> 	Obviously the criminal "due process" system, for I
> certainly could not call it a system of justice, fails miserably
> to deal with these heinous crimes by men against women. 

	Imagine what it must have been like before law 
enforcement. I will agree with you that it needs to be improved, 
but there is the danger of convicting innocent men for what could 
be taken as very loose interpretations. The fact that most are 
never reported does not surprise me, for very often it involves a 
guilt transferral. That is, I'm going to punish you because you 
made me this way. But some enforcement is still a deterrent, and 
it is better than none. The important thing is does the victim 
want to press charges, she may not wish to. If she does, the 
trial can prove to be a trauma in and of itself. The first thing 
you need is evidence. And solid evidence. They can prove the 
assailant had had penetration, but the difficult part is proving 
that it was completely against the victim's will. Especially if 
that person was familiar with the victim prior to the incident.
Husband/Wife occurances are the toughest.

> That is the point folks.  A rapist takes from a woman, her
> control of her life, when he takes control of her body and uses
> it to his own ends.  The trauma HE inflicts on HER is seldom
> resolved. 

	There is a good chance that the rapist is going through 
some form of trauma, and any good agency will emphasize this 
point. They will try as best they can to lead you to an 
understanding of exactly what happened. Rape and other forms of 
violent abuse are an act of desperation, from a dying man.

> all so men can assert their dominance... their God given right to
> use women as their slaves. 

	No. You are talking about a very small percentage. Please 
don't blow this thing out of proportion. Don't punish us for the 
acts of a few. That is how the whole mess gets started in the 
first place.

> excuse me, I think I'm going to puke... 

	Maybe you could USE a good puke. Fortunately you chose a 
good place to put it. Perhaps you could work on some suggestions 
as to how we could better deal with this problem, both women AND 
men. It appears that the hardest thing to do is prevent it in the 
first place. We're just not all that well educated. But we're 
learning. The kinds of things we need take time. As recent as 130 
years ago we actually had legalized slavery. Human nature doesn't 
change that quickly. The hard thing to do as an individual is to 
not let vulgar aspects of tortured individuals torture you into 
the same way of thinking. This is where it requires an 
understanding of the aggressors, as well as the victims. And, I 
should add, it is alot more easily said than done. 

	As for male supremacy, it is a myth. Anyone who takes the 
time to think about it for any length of time will realize that 
both male and female qualities are necessary for the species to 
survive, and that the differences between us appear magnified 
because of the nature of our thinking process in classifying. We 
are coming into an age when human life is no longer considered 
property. There are still details to be worked out. The hardest 
thing to develop is a mature attitude. It takes a lifetime.

					----{ john williams }----

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