What I've learned from the DSK rape case
Shortly after Nafissatou Diallo accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault, journalists painted Strauss-Kahn as a rich, European letch. Now that prosecutors that have dropped the case, stories depict DSK as the victim of a conniving, money-hungry immigrant. Headlines are bold, direct and hatefully accusatory. This case adds to the litany of social lessons that can be learned by survivors of sexual violence.
- Rich perpetrators do not get tried or sentenced. Money provides access to defense and the survivor's Achilles heel.
- If a woman has ever lied about anything ever in her life, she cannot possibly be trusted to tell the truth about being attacked.
- The perpetrators of rape are less likely to be seen as criminals while the women who survive attack are brandished liars and frauds. Or gold diggers. Or sluts. This is more likely if the woman is a) a person of color, b) an immigrant, and c) poor. (She is already suspected of all of these by virtue of being a woman.)
Unfortunately, none of these are new lessons. We are painfully aware of all three.