To the Editor:
I read a letter to The Dartmouth today ("Well-Intentioned Rapists," The Dartmouth,Feb. 20) and then reread the article in The Dartmouth that it was referring to, entitled "Investigation Stalls Pending Victim Report," (The Dartmouth, Feb. 14) and I now believe I know of the reason why the writer responded in the way she did.
The problem has to with this quote in The Dartmouth and how someone may interpret it: "In many sexual assaults, he said, 'people with good intentions force people to do things they are uncomfortable with,' leading to 'he-said, she-said' confrontations."
At first blush you would think I am talking about the two actors: victim and perpetrator. However, what I was telling the reporter had nothing to do with that, but rather of the good intentions of those people who the victim confides in. It is these people who end up forcing a victim to do something she feels very uncomfortable with. The "he said, she said" was another quote taken out of context, where I was telling the reporter that these cases are so extremely difficult to pursue because it boils down to just that.
With today's technology, a perpetrator is dead in the water if he claims it didn't happen. All he has to do is raise the consent defense (through his lawyer), remain silent and the poor victim goes "on trial" trying to convince the jury that the initial encounter, which usually starts off as consensual, went down a path which she was not prepared for either physically or emotionally. I hope this clarifies my position.
