My CSL
placement is editing the Sexual Assault Centre’s (SAC) training manual. This
manual states that over half of the sexual assault on campus at the U of A
happened when students were “under the influence of drugs or Alcohol”(Sexual
Assault Centre, Training manual). As a result of drugs or alcohol being
involved in the assault a survivor is likely to experience feelings of guilt
and/or self-blame. This manual also states that alcohol is the most prevalent
date rape drug used by perpetrators.
As we all
know that no matter what the survivors actions were at the time of the assault,
what happened was 100% not his or her fault. As we have learned through this class, in our
own lives because we are all socially aware individuals and through of Sexual
Assault Presentation that we saw earlier this year, the perpetrator is the own
who is responsible for what happened. The perpetrator was 100 % in control of their
actions during the sexual assault. The information we have learned over the
course of the term about sexual assault makes the police practices (as
mentioned in the Dubois article) both infuriating and disheartening. We have
learned that over 80 % of sexual assault are perpetrated by someone the
survivors knows. Dubois cites that if police find out that the survivor knows
the perpetrator the case is likely to go unfounded. This practice is extremely
worrisome due to what survivors are experiencing which is a higher likelihood of
being attacked by an individual who is trusted. Telling a survivor their claim
is not valid is an example of secondary victimization (Campbell, 2002). Dubois gives light to the reasons that police services
found women’s reports of sexual assault to be unfounded. A reason that sexual
assault is likely to be deemed unfounded is if women use drugs or alcohol. This
police practice fails to realize that offenders often use alcohol on themselves
to facilitate and give themselves courage to commit the sexual assault (SAC,
Training manual). This police practice fails again to keep the blame where is
should be, on the offender of the sexual assault.
The social
significance of the SAC manual is the fact that is there information on Sexual assault.
It is significant that there are groups in the community and on campus that are
providing information and support to individuals in our community. I would
argue that being able to have a class like this shows that it is possible to
take steps and change societal practices. I think the fact that we have this
class is significant because when my parents were in University… I’m not sure
this academic discourse about sexual violence would have been possible. What do
you think?
Dubois states that it is the people who train
police officers about sexual assault who “have the power to frame” (p.85)
police practices. My overall question is how does society enforce the rules
that we have already so police practices of investigating sexual assault have predictable
results. I think the answer is in the article and the information we have
learned in this class. The police education needs to be evaluated.
Hey Natalia,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, in that society enforces police investigations to have similar results, and my comment will attempt to explain how society does this and its effects on police investigations.
I believe that there is this underlying idea within our society that women are coy and manipulative, and therefore more likely to lie in any given circumstances. When there is a prevailing assumption within our patriarchal society that women are likely to lie, it makes it difficult for women to be taken seriously in reports of sexual assault. I believe that this notion of the mendacious woman is deeply ingrained in the investigating practices of sexual assault. Taking the example mentioned in Teresa Dubois’ article of police “interviews with two women who had been drugged and then sexually assaulted in Ottawa in 2003”, where the women were essentially told that they were lying and to stop wasting precious police time. This example shows how the pervasive idea that women lie affects the way that survivors are treated in police investigations.
Unfortunately, there is a cyclical relationship between society’s patriarchal paradigm and police investigations. Firstly, the ideology of the deceitful woman within society affects the way police investigations are done, with a high rate of disbelief where the investigators are continually trying to prove the survivor’s story wrong. This can result in a high rate of unfounding, where many sexual assaults are deemed as no-crimes, which then perpetuates police beliefs that sexual assault survivors are lying, causing survivors to be treated with even more suspicion. Further, police manuals are created with this underlying belief of the untruthful sexual assault survivor, and police officers are trained with the idea in mind that survivors are lying most of the time, creating an unfortunate cyclical relationship within which is very difficult to escape from.
I think you can also see this view of the mendacious woman in the court systems. For my CSL placement, I am partnered with the Elizabeth Fry Society, where I get to sit and watch court. At one point, I witnessed a lawyer directly refer to a female client, who hadn’t even left the room yet, as “completely psychotic.” Along with making me extremely uncomfortable, I was confronted with the fact that the Court is not this ivory tower of objectivity, society’s view of the deceitful, crazily manipulative woman greatly affects the way survivors are treated by the Court. If women are generally seen in this light, it is no wonder that there is an atmosphere of skepticism around sexual assault survivors.