We've been told that we should listen to women when they say they were raped and that we mustn't ever question their character or motivations for making an accusation.

And yet this story by the recently departed Harper Lee makes a hero out of a cis het white man who does exactly this.

He claims she's a liar doing it to avoid being shamed. He calls her character in to question, including that of her family. He claims she was the one doing the flirting. And he advocates releasing the accused rapist (according to RAINN only 3% of rapists ever see the inside of a jail cell).

Of course the rapist is convicted.

But Atticus is presented as a hero for essentially calling this woman a lying slut and refusing to listen and believe.

Isn't teaching this to children an example of rape culture? Shouldn't we teach them to listen and believe instead of assuming innocence and waiting to hear the facts?