The North Carolina State Attorney General's office forgot one thing. The young lady involved in these circumstances was waltzed through charges she believed constituted at the very least 'bad behavior' at a Frat Party while a former prosecutor ran for office.
The young lady whom offered her services for entertainment and income to support herself through college never expected "The Duke Angels" to be verbally abusive or ridiculing of her and that is also a part of this issue.
While North Carolina doesn't see a 'stripper' as someone who should complain at 'bad behavior' or ethnic or gender slurs, the reality is there, and the women that strip for a living WHILE ENTERTAINING men such as these have their own right to self esteem and appreciation. I am confident at the center of this issue lies the question, "But will it hold up in court?" The answer was obviously, no.
But, what remains to be appreciated is that she was regarded as an object and not an entertainer. The Duke Angels may wash up well but they ain't angels by any stretch of the imagination.
When it comes to having women come forward to report mistreatment by others when it results in a sexual nature is nearly impossible and now that the victim of this fiasco is pushed aside to make way for the victory, once again, of the media that protects male virginity the thought that rape victims will come forward and be believed is getting more impossible. At least when it makes headlines.
In knowing women of rape that have seen their attacker found 'innocent' there is always this 'after effect' to that innocence. Left behind after the charges are dropped or by some chance it actually made it to court is the reality of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. For a lifetime after the rape, which actually did happen, is a victim that suffers with relived scenarios, sleeplessness, psychotic fears and a medical regime to chock a horse. On more than one occassion in life, I have meet women whom were sincerely raped, left with the permanent scars while their attackers were never charged or found innocent. There is something very wrong with the way evidence in rape cases are weighted to lead to conviction and something extremely wrong in the way the media vindicates the most guilty of men to exonerate the rest when charged 'as a big mistake.'
Women don't realize how compromised they are in a day to day basis when issues like this manifest. We are all sexual creatures and enjoy that aspect of our lives. When by some chance the 'innocense' of that sexuality is violated and exploited in what some might believe are subtle ways we all suffer at the hand of the truly innocent. The truly innocent are the women never recognized as the most damaged in our society. The truly raped, abused and assaulted whereby their attackers walk away laughing.
American society has among it the victims of rape that battle everyday with a syndrome that permanently affects their lives. That should be enough to realize even after decades of suffering they are carrying the 'real evidence' if only someone had listened.
