General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Justin Fairfax is not being Franken'd [View all]Empowerer
(3,900 posts)That's not up to the victim.
And it seems to me that if a victim is willing to talk about their case to the world, they should be willing to have the police and prosecutor doing investigation. Since they clearly no longer are concerned about having a personal matter exposed to the public.
While I believe that all women should be taken seriously, I don't think that translates into being required to assume that every man accused of a crime must be guilty based solely on the accusation.
And I think that if a woman is willing make a very public accusation such as this, she should be willing to press charges. Otherwise we are supplanting the criminal justice system with a "court of public opinion" system in which a victim can make any accusations she chooses and the accused has no rights whatsoever.
We wouldn't tolerate this in any other type of crime. And while sexual assault has a unique place in the criminal justice system, the very fact that it is so highly charged is one of the reasons we should not allow accusations to be launched against people without any check or balance.
Women must be protected and empowered in this process. But the process must be fair and women in this situation, while deserving of great difference, can't have it both ways.