The Second Rape

The Second Rape, By Aus-Rotten
Every 45 seconds a woman is raped
Our sexist culture allows no escape
This violent crime is far from obscurity
When the rate of victims is one in three
Society conditions men to be rapists
And our indifference perpetuates it
With derogatory language that tends to dehumanize
Making it easier for men to victimize
And the pornographic images that help portray
Women as legitimate sexual prey
When sexism is embedded in our judicial system
It's no surprise why the courts won't listen
And the role of attacker and survivor become distorted
So the majority of rapes are never reported
The threat of rape is always there
It's like a poison that saturates the air
A society stricken by a cancerous disease
Where men know they can do as they please
You tell me the punishment for rape
You tell me how much jail time it will take
When one out of three women will be raped
You tell me what it's going to fucking take
Do you see me in my low cut shirt
Or high heel shoes or a miniskirt
Woman is the victim you desire
You say you can't resist your predatory fire
You tell me why I stand guilty and accused
You tell me when I'm beaten and abused
When it's my body that's been raped and defiled
You tell me why I'm the one on trial
Defense attorney?: Do you know the man who "allegedly" attacked you?
Victim?: Yes I know the man who raped me.
Defense attorney?: And isn't this man a friend of yours?
Victim?: Well I thought he was a friend of mine.
Defense attorney?: And were you drinking that night he 'allegedly" attacked you?
Victim?: I had a drink or two but is that a crime?
Defense attorney?: I'll ask the questions if you don't mind!-What were you wearing: How did you act?
Victim?: My wardrobe isn't an invitation for a man to attack.-I didn't act in any way to bring this on. Why am I on trail? What did I do wrong?
Defense attorney?: Could you tell the jury why you let this happen?
Victim?: I was in shock. I couldn't stop him.
Defense attorney?: You claim that you were raped but how do we know?
Victim?: I said no, I said no, no, no!
Defense attorney?: Isn't it true you're just a woman scorned?
Victim?: I'm a woman who's been raped and torn.
Defense attorney?: Your honor, I demand that this case be dismissed,-it all comes down to her word against his!
I may not have bruises all over my body
But when I went to his room I never would have guessed
That he would force my no to mean a yes
You tell me why I'm guilty of this crime
You tell me why the responsibility is mine
When women suffer a second rape during trial
Courts help rapists to violate and defile

This song I find to be very true. Far too frequently a womyn is placed in a situation where she is uncomfortable and forced to do things against her will. What this song is trying to represent is that in several cases when a womyn goes on trial for rape, it is as if she is the defendant, and its almost like a "Second rape", being asked question after question causing her to relive the horrible experience, and several times its as if no one believes what she went through. Although I do understand that this process is all very necessary to get to the heart and truth of the events that conspired, I feel like it could be done in a way that's less interrogative and more sympathetic.

Now I can also see the opposing argument to this song, that it poorly generalizes the court systems, and also makes out the female to be the constant victim, but keep in mind, most songs like this are focused on a single event or issue, not everything that has ever occurred. Plus there are too many rape cases to combine them all into one song. In fact there were 248,300 individuals who had been raped or sexually assaulted in 2007 alone.(The National Crime Victimization Survey) According to the U.S. Department of Justice, an estimated 91% of the victims of rape and sexual assault are female and 9% are male. Nearly 99% of the offenders they described in single-victim incidents are male.(http://www.calcasa.org/) So as you see it's not just womyn that are raped(violently or not).

Originally, the court systems have made it difficult for rape victims to prosecute, or at least the Maryland Court system has. In 2006 the law was interpreted almost exactly as it was 200 years ago. The Maryland law was stated like so....
...."[I]t was the act of penetration that was the essence of the crime of rape; after this initial infringement upon the responsible Male's interest in a woman's sexual and reproductive functions, any further injury was considered to be less consequential. The damage was done. It was this view that the moment of penetration was the point in time, after which a woman could never be "re-flowered," that gave rise to the principle that, if a woman consents prior to penetration and withdraws consent following penetration, there is no rape. Maryland adheres to this tenet, having adopted the common law, which remains the law of the Land until and unless changed by the State's highest court or by statute . . ." (http://happyfeminist.typepad.com/happyfeminist/2006/10/maryland_court_.html)
This law was brought to surface in Baby v. Maryland.

Since then the law has changed to allow the victim to say "no" or "stop" after penetration, and it will be considered rape if the second party involved does not adhere to the victims wishes after more than five seconds and continues their attack, rape is also broken into "Statutory rape" and "rape by force".

Well, I guess what I'm really trying to say, is that rape is more common then we know, and it's not always clear who's the victim, or if it's actually rape, and quite often the victim becomes the defendant when placed in court.