Joan Smith: Why rape victims must have flawless pasts to get justice - Joan Smith, Commentators - The Independent

2011-08-24T15:53:05+00:00

Ms. Smith's comments might be true IF we were only talking about the past. But let's look at what Ms. Diallo did in the PRESENT:

She lied to the prosecutors - who were only trying to bring to trial the man she said raped her in the first place.
She started a civil suit against DSK before the trial even started, clouding the whole issue and giving a lot of people evidence that she was only in this for the money.

Unfortunately her present was just as flawed as her past...hence leading to the dismissal of the case. Her call.

IncrediblyFatMan · 2011-08-24T12:01:30+00:00

Are people like this trying to suggest the past of the accused isn't used to create bias? Rape shield laws deem that the past conduct of the accused can be used to assassinate their character even if it has jack shit to do with rape, but that the accuser's past conduct cannot?

Look at the Strauss-Kahn and Assange cases as recent examples. That these men were seen as "playboys" who were with plenty of women was completely irrelevant to the accusation of rape, but was played up as if it made them guilty by default or "at least guilty of something."

roland3337 · 2011-08-24T15:30:41+00:00

If anyone needs a quick and dirty example of a straw man argument, send them the title of this.

No...you do not need to have a flawless past. You just need to be credible.

2011-08-24T10:29:40+00:00

This kind of thing pops up every time a high profile case is dismissed. It's boring now.

Title	Joan Smith: Why rape victims must have flawless pasts to get justice - Joan Smith, Commentators - The Independent
Author	internethardman
Upvotes	4
Comments	6
Date	August 24, 2011 9:01 AM UTC (14 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/jsp7u/joan_smith_why_rape_victims_must_have_flawless/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/joan-smith-why-rape-victims-must-have-flawless.1035513 https://theredarchive.com/post/1035513

Comments