In North America the stigma of the accusation of sexual misconduct is all it takes to essentially ruin your life. It’s happened to teachers and I’m sure not every priest accused of molestation is actually guilty. Maybe. It doesn’t make the slightest difference if your case goes to trial. Once that accusation is out in public you are branded. Even finding a job to provide the basics for your family can be all but impossible.
I do not sympathize with rapists. I think they should be castrated. I’m not joking. But only if they’re guilty. And the burden of proof is not light.
So what will happen to Israeli President Moshe Katsav with this accusation over his head? If he is guilty, as I said, I have no sympathy and he can be drawn and quartered. But regardless of what is revealed during the course of his trial his career is over. And I don’t think that’s fair. It’s a failing of our nature that an exoneration will never make the high-profile news that the accusation does, so that even if completely and irrefutably innocent, the accused will always be remembered as the accused.
And what’s worse is that the stigma of the accusation can far outweigh the actual charge, as in the case of current law in North America, where someone can be caught out in a technicality, where a legal (if socially questionable) collection of porn can unfortunately include one picture of a seventeen-year old model posing nude and perfectly aware of what she is doing, but nonetheless the owner of the collection is guilty of possessing child pornography. There is no grey area and in the public eye and our need for soundbites he is guilty of hoarding rooms full of the most depraved and disgusting violations of common human decency of which we can conceive against defenseless babes. And we don’t want anything to do with this otherwise shining example of humanity for fear that his reputation will rub off on us. We don’t even make the attempt. The only choice the accused has is to pick up his family and leave, to start over somewhere were no one knows him, where, hopefully, there is no registry of sexual offenders.
The only chance he really has is the other failing in our nature – hopelessly short attention spans. Oh look! A castle!
Ohhhh! Is that the Disney castle? It’s beautiful! But I prefer the castle featured in the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang movie. You know with Dick Van Dyke? He’s had a good career, no false accusations there I don’t think.
Yes we do get distracted, but I don’t think we ever forget what was said.
for many reasons, *hug*