“She must be doing it just for the attention or money.” This justification is uttered almost every time a rape case breaks in the news, and I’m sure it’s often whispered when a girl comes forward in her social circle. It’s even worse when someone comes forward accusing someone famous, as is painfully evident when presidential candidate Donald Trump claims that women accusing him are seeking “10 seconds of fame” during a national debate.
Women and men who come forward about sexual assault are faced with such a barrage of doubt, it is no wonder that some don’t come forward. Imagine something terrible happens to you and no one believes you. If it was someone you know who did it, such as a friend, relative or partner, the shadow of doubt increases.
But is that really that hard to believe? The people who can hurt you the most are the ones closest to you. You relax with these people, maybe even tell them things you don’t say to everyone else. Yet so many people seem to jump instantly to the conclusion that women lie about rape. Why is that?
To me, I can’t see anything a woman has to gain from lying about being raped. The argument that a woman does it for attention doesn’t make sense, as the attention received is almost always negative. The only attention most women get is people telling her to get over it, or that she’s lying.
Would a woman lie about rape so she can get fame or money? Not likely. When Desiree Washington came forward saying Mike Tyson raped her, the negative attention got to the point where she had to hide her appearance in public. Washington was ridiculed into hiding, despite Tyson being charged and serving a jail sentence for raping her.
When Tyson was released from jail, he was met with a raging party and endless support, as if he had just returned from war and not prison. Similarly, when hockey player Patrick Kane was accused of sexual assault, many in the hockey media lamented that no one really knew what happened and repeatedly cast doubt upon the victim. When the case was eventually dropped, Kane was met with roaring cheers once he stepped foot on the ice.
Sports in particular have a long history of victims dropping cases due to the media circus they are forced to face. Sports media is notorious for burying these cases and giving little to no credence to the victims. Additionally, sports leagues have a history of not addressing the underlying issues leading to these allegations. A cursory look through past cases of sexual assault in hockey alone leads to at least 20 cases in the past 25 years, and that’s just the surface. It is highly unlikely that all of these women are lying— the sheer numbers alone mean at least one of them is telling the truth, and statistics regarding sexual assault say that a rape allegation is truthful 97 per cent of the time.
Instead of dealing with this issue constructively, sports leagues and the media alike assume the innocence of their players and unleash vitriol on the victim. For once, I would like to see a league like the National Hockey League take rape accusations seriously and reprimand their players. Grassroots leagues like the Ontario Hockey League should focus on educating players about rape culture and have a zero-tolerance model when a player does offend. Athletes are role models for young boys. When they repeatedly get away with sexual assault it sends a message that they can do whatever they want, and that victims are always lying. I would love to see some accountability from leagues, and for them to take a stance that this type of behaviour is unacceptable.
Far too many universities do not take reports of sexual assault as seriously as they should, fearing that it will ruin their reputation. Protecting the institutions seems to be a common theme, whether that institution is a hockey league, or a university. But institutions are responsible for the safety of the people they serve and for being a part of the community. This is not possible if they are denying involvement in crimes such as sexual assault and not providing support to victims who come forward. For universities, students are demanding better policies, and some universities like the University of Ottawa are following suit by overhauling how they deal with sexual assault. Maybe one day we will support victims instead of doubting them.
