When a female accuses someone of sexual misconduct — especially when a female accuses a famous person or professional athlete on such charges — it seems like people immediately want to think, “She’s just a gold digger.”
I don’t have any personal experience in the matter, fortunately (both in getting raped or wanting to hook up with professional athletes. Once you've covered them on a daily basis, believe me, you wouldn't want to either). But, as a woman, I feel compelled to say something in light of this most recent Ben Roethlisberger situation.
Now of course, I don’t know what happened last week between Roethlisberger and the woman who is making the claims against him. So it’s possible the Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback will be found not guilty on all charges if this goes to trial. I’m not just talking about his situation specifically.
But, just look at the language in the media when a sexual misconduct situation arises. Maybe it started earlier than this, but the first time I remembering hearing it was the Kobe Bryant rape case, and that’s the phrase “Kobe’s accuser.” Or, Ben Roethlisberger’s accuser. It’s such a negative word. The phrase seems to completely separate Bryant or Roethlisberger from any involvement in the situation. Accuser makes it sound like some crazy person in the Salem witch trials getting up and screaming, “She’s a witch!” at some random person they don't even know.
In my mind, when I hear “possible victim” vs. “accuser”? it makes quite a difference in how I am going to view the person.
What if it was flipped? What if stories would say, “Possible rapist Kobe Bryant”? Or, “possible rapist Ben Roethlisberger”? Well, that’s not saying they committed the crime, so the media outlets are covered from any libel problems. But it puts Bryant or Roethlisberger in a negative light before all the facts are out. I think it’s important to be fair to both sides while the situation is being sorted out and the language used often doesn't do that.
It also frustrates me when people say (again, not just in these two situations specifically) “well, she put herself in that situation. It’s her fault.”Well yes, maybe some of these women were out at nightclubs, and maybe, they were hoping for attention from star athletes. Maybe, they were even hoping to hook up. But, if these women got in that situation, and at any point voiced that they were uncomfortable with what was happening, the other person needs to listen and stop.
It doesn’t matter who the person is, or what their profession is, or even how many people they’ve slept with. Everyone should have the chance to say, “hey, this makes me uncomfortable and I want to stop.” Sleeping around or wanting to hook up with athletes doesn’t make you are immune from getting raped.
2 comments:
I think the language stems from our legal system that says 'a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty'.
Yeah, I agree D.J. I just think sometimes it almost reverses the problem. People want to make sure it's clear the person charged with the crime isn't implicated they are in fact proven guilty, but at times the wording can make the person bringing the charges look bad, or somehow not credible. It's a hard line to walk, to be sure.
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