Ifnothing else, the events of the last two weeks have shown that Sexual Assault is a complex issue. Yet, like all things complex, many people feel comfortable maintaining simple opinions on the subject. We must do better than that.
I witnessed one facet of the issue as I took part in the "Take Back The Night March" last Thursday. The early stages of the march were predictable -- some rousing speeches in front of Webster Hall and then a loud jaunt around the campus. Predictable, yes, but no less valuable for its predictability.
However, from my perspective things became especially intriguing as the predictability broke down. This occurred as the march concluded in the center of the Green. Men and women stood in a candlelit circle directed by one idea: Speaking Up, Speaking Out.
I did not anticipate what followed. Woman after woman stepped forward to tell her story, to try to put into language the stream of emotions she felt, in some cases to speak about what she had never spoken about before. These women were not speaking to trained counselors; they were speaking to a crowd filled with both familiar and unfamiliar faces.
As one of those unfamiliar faces and as a man I could not hope to offer empathy, I could not share in the catharsis. Mine was a position limited to sympathy. But from that position I gained an insight into the struggles of recovery and the problems of the aftermath.
One thing that frequently comes up in the aftermath is the question of justice. It was ironic that this issue was raised by The Dartmouth Review, but not surprising that the attitude they displayed was completely wrong. The Review, forever vigilant against the tyranny of political correctness, displayed perfectly through their own action the dangers of one politically correct attitude taken too far.
I happen to subscribe to that politically correct attitude. The victims of sexual assault are just that -- victims. It is a fault of our culture that we frequently consider the victim of sexual assault guilty of her own crime. We should work to change that culture.
However, we must realize that this becomes complicated when we introduce the notion of justice. Working for justice is incompatible with anonymity.
The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution gives Americans the right to be confronted by the witnesses against us. If you doubt the necessity of this right I would simply point to The Dartmouth Review.
The three cases of sexual assault presented by The Review provide the perfect example of what can happen when justice is served in a court of hearsay. As a community we have no good reason to believe that those men are guilty, and yet we cannot doubt that they have been convicted.
Bringing about justice is not supposed to be easy. This is necessary because we believe, rightly, that punishing the innocent is one of the greatest evils we can commit.
All this may seem to be a blow to those who are concerned with sexual assault. It seems unfair that a woman, a victim, must undergo a painful ordeal in order to bring about justice.
But to my mind it is a credit to those who come forward despite the adversity. Not only do they work for justice, but ultimately they are the people who make the biggest positive difference. That is something we can all respect.
