It's not okay if you're in silence or lie (Human Rights)

I was reading a very interesting article on 3 naval football players who allegedly sexually assaulted a 20- year old female midshipman. The alleged victim was a 20-year-old sophomore in April 2012 when she attended an off-campus “toga and yoga” party, drank heavily, and had alleged sexual contact with the three men while being allegedly too intoxicated to give consent ; the article was titled Navy Hearing Grills Alleged Rape Victim on Her Oral Sex Technique, Whether She Wore a Bra. The title lost me a little but, as I read more in depth there was more meaning to it. People didn’t know whether to believe those allegations if this was true seeing that allegedly was used so much in this case; “reports showed that an estimated 26,000 service members experienced some form of sexual assault last year, up from 19,000 two years before. Of those incidents, 3,000 were reported; only 302 went to trial” (www.slate.com). As I kept reading this article, it was easy to see why so many victims might prefer to disappear rather than face the punishing interrogations and institutional pressures that come with speaking up about being sexual assaulted.

We as women have human rights but, to falsify that you have been allegedly raped is going to far which makes the real raped and assaulted victims even more afraid to speak up because of women coming up with false allegations. Being willingly and being forced are two different things and some women just don’t get the two. Allegations towards the naval football players not only were falsified but, the now 21- year old female midshipman repeatedly  said that her memory of the night was fuzzy; she came to believe she’d been raped after she heard rumors and saw posts about her on social media. In my opinion, this is a complete disrespect to those females who would have been bold to speak up not only in the Navy but, in other occupancy if this trial wasn't so shaky and somewhat unreal; also many women falsely accuse men of rape. There are several stories of the falsely accused and numerous comments in their support. Of course it is possible for a woman to falsely accuse a man of raping her, and of course it does happen, but it’s not an epidemic. “But from the disproportionate number of stories detailing a false accusation (far more than 3 percent), you might think it is” (www.motherboard.vice.com). Crime statistics on rape are notoriously unreliable. “Studies put non-reporting rates at anywhere between 75 percent and 95 percent. The largest study in the United States into false rape allegations, published in 2005, put the number at approximately 3 percent of the 2,643 cases of sexual assault reported”(www.motherboard.vice.com). A lot of people make judgments on the type of women that are sexually assaulted victims saying that they were asking for it; which makes the victim become more in denial questioning if they were really raped or not.

Women Human Rights on rape and assault have been talked about globally because nowadays rape and sexually assault is considered as a weapon of war in some countries as for America it’s just commonly considered rape and assault in my opinion. We as women have the right to choose who can touch us or not whether it is of consent or not. Today Shame, Fear, Depression, also Lack of trust in the criminal justice system are the four that come to mind which is traumatic to women who have been sexually assaulted or raped. Depending on one’s ethnicity or cultural claims, the virtue of chastity or modest is held in high regard, often to a ridiculous level. I feel that Society mocks or did the rape victim. Also if the rapist is not caught fear of being attacked again or fear that more violence will be done to more women being silenced. Women should come together and make it easier for the real victims of sexual assault and rape crimes and for them not be scared to speak up because not because to don’t want to but because some women are taking advantage of our Human Rights as women.

Reporting of Sexual Violence Incidents." National Institute of Justice. The Bureau of Justice Statistics, 26 Oct. 2010. Web. 25 Sept. 2013.

Waldman, Katy. "Navy Hearing Grills Alleged Rape Victim on Her Oral Sex Technique, Whether ..." Slate Magazine (blog). New York Times, 24 Sept. 2013. Web. 25 Sept. 2013.

Bourdet, Kelly. "Rapists Are Sharing Stories of Their Rapes on Reddit Right Now." Weblog post. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2013.