A couple months ago, a media
story broke in Sacramento, CA about a teenage girl who was detained for
twice failing to appear in court to testify against the man who raped her. At
the time, EVAWI didn’t have a blog platform to talk about this story. Seeing as
we do now, it’s a good time to bring it up as it’s still fresh on the minds of
many in the Sacramento area.
This survivor was held for nearly a month. The prosecutor
stated the detention was necessary because her testimony was critical to the
case. The perpetrator had a long criminal history and is also suspected of
raping one other woman.
This story raises several issues. First, a young, female
victim who is terrified of testifying isn’t going to be more inclined to
participate after being incarcerated. This isn’t going to teach her to trust
authorities in the future, especially if she is like many so victims who are unfortunately
victimized again.
A second issue is the possibility that this use of power
over the victim will cause other victims in the community to feel reluctant to
come forward to report a sexual assault. Anytime there is a high profile sexual
assault case covered in the media, it can have an impact on the rate of
reporting – sometimes positively and sometimes negatively.
It is never ok to treat a victim the way the perpetrator
should be treated. The message this ends up sending is that the victim is being
punished for being a victim of a crime. Most victims are terrified of
testifying. Fear of testifying is understandable – not only does the victim
have to re-live the assault in front of numerous strangers, but they are also
forced to do so in front of their perpetrator. Victims need validation,
encouragement, and support during a difficult time – not punishment for being afraid
of a terrifying situation for any person, let alone a 16-year old child.
Alison Jones-Lockwood,
Social Media/Outreach Coordinator, EVAWI
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