Girl Forced to Apologize to Boy Who Raped Her
| Wed Aug. 17, 2011 1:38 PM PDT
A special ed girl in a Missouri middle school reported that she was raped a couple of years ago. But school officials insisted that her story was made up and badgered her into recanting:
Following instructions from the school, the girl wrote an apology to the boy she accused of raping her and had to personally give it to him, according to the lawsuit. She was then expelled for the remainder of the 2008-09 school year....The girl returned to the middle school for the 2009-10 school year and tried to avoid the boy, according to the lawsuit. It didn't work. She was sexually assaulted again [in the school library] but didn't tell anyone because she was afraid of being expelled again.I'll grant that it's impossible to know for sure what happened based on just one side of the story. Still, a forensic exam after the second rape showed that the girl had indeed been sexually assaulted, a DNA match was made to the boy she had accused of raping her, and the boy then pleaded guilty to charges in juvenile court. But the school district continues to say that it bears no responsibility for any of this. WTF?
....School officials were notified of the incident and allegedly doubted the girl's claim, saying they'd "already been through this," according to the lawsuit. The girl was also examined and found to have been sexually assaulted. However, she was suspended from school for "disrespectful conduct" and "public display of affection," her lawyers wrote in the lawsuit.
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For more about this case, I encourage you to read:
Though I do not know this particular girl, this demonstrates just another case of revictimization by a system that is supposed to assist the victim. And, as we see, one of the consequences is that individuals fail to trust authorities after this occurs.
It seems inconceivable that a middle-school-aged young lady would be expected to apologize to a boy who raped her. Heck, it seems ridiculous to think that any female who is raped would forced to apologize. After all, it really isn't a claim of rape if DNA proves it occurred.
My critique of the news coverage of this case: nearly all of the stories make it clear that the young lady is categorized by the school system as "special ed". None of these stories explain why this is important, how it impacts the case, or why they mention it. Why do you think this is mentioned? How does this affect the case?
I'm wondering why this school district is allowed to claim that the girl didn't take reasonable precautions to protect herself. If this same girl had tripped on an uneven floor in a retail store, the store would be liable for not providing a safe environment. Why is a school not liable for denying a safe environment to students?
ReplyDeleteThis news was posted on Jezebel.com, and the comments are very telling about our society's general views of violence against women (sad). Most commenters questioned whether this story was real, said it seems to implausible and that there "must be more to the story."
ReplyDeleteWhat kills me is this: We know that at LEAST 1 in 4 women is sexually assaulted at some point in her life. That means that 25% of girls and women out there HAVE experienced sexual violence. At least. And it's pretty clear that the actual number is higher, since our system isn't report-friendly. So how is it really THAT implausible that a girl was raped at school?
And given the fact that police don't even believe or support women who have the guts to report, why are we so surprised a school doesn't? While I don't deny that there are some great school administrators out there, it seems that money and politics wins out over justice in most cases.
Furthermore, EVEN IF there is more to the story, these facts remain the same: the girl was raped, the boy was found by DNA evidence to be the perp and he admitted guilt. What could she possibly have done to deserve suspension? And why wasn't he removed from the school?
Think these are great comments Sande & Katie! Katie, you brought up exactly what came to mind for me--the underreporting element. If we continue to function with our current institutions as they are, reporting will never increase. This young lady is a perfect example of why.
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