With this mistake and the previous false accusation against an innocent Marine, I question the competence of these lawyers. They also may face their own lawsuits for the damage done to the reputation of innocent parties.
This is a good reason why nobody’s name should be released. It’s one thing for us to speculate about what happened, and quite another for the plaintiffs or defendants to be threatened on the phone, email, or social media.
No one should be threatened, that goes without saying. However, I have no problem with their names being out there - even if what they did does not rise to the level of criminality it showed a complete lack of morality and good judgment. Why shouldn’t it be known? No decent human being should be having sex with/taking advantage of a girl who is clearly out of her mind - nor should they advertise free p to the whole of their fraternity. It’s disgusting and wrong. And the other frat bros who merely stood by and did nothing will face no repercussions even though their lack of action also showed complete disregard for a fellow human being. And these are our best and brightest? Maybe we should start holding men to a higher standard instead of trotting out excuses for their behavior. As women many (if not most) of us have been subjected to unwanted attention from men - many (if not most) of us have friends or loved ones who have experienced some form of SA if we haven’t experienced it ourselves. The tenor of many of the comments in this thread is the number one reason why SA goes under reported.
The problem I have with the names being out there is Jane Doe’s name is out there. The victim should have anonymity and shame on all the media outlets that did publish her name. I’d be willing to not have the suspects names out there too if it meant fully protecting the victims. But, that doesn’t seem to happen.
I fully agree with @hebegeb that no one should be threatened, and that’s happening to Jane Doe too, not just the alleged perpetrators.
And her family too. IMO there’s probably some risk she drops this lawsuit, which would be extremely sad, but not surprising.
Do you agree with that same sentence about Jane Doe ?
Reading @momofboiler1 I didn’t know her name is out there. I saw an article showing a picture and another dismissing as it’s not her. I assumed those making threats no her.
But that sentence you wrote also applies to Jane Doe - not being the victim part but b4.
The names shouldn’t be known because we are rushing to judgment assuming we know the truth based upon the allegations of one person. If she’s proven right in court, there’s plenty of time for the men to face their deserved consequences.
One point of view is that anonymity actually hurts victims in the long run. That is, treating sexual assault as a topic that must be kept secret can unintentionally signal that the victim, rather than the perpetrators, has something to hide or be embarrassed about.
Further, anonymity creates a power imbalance where the victim is effectively “silenced”. I have seen signs that say “Jane Doe is a hero”. Wouldn’t those signs be more powerful with her real name?
This is a young person who has been trying to launch professionally without a college degree, AND deal with her trauma, AND has now been “outed” and her family threatened.
You think she should be broadcasting her name around the world as well?
Well, this point of view seems really misinformed. There is a well documented history of why victims of sexual abuse are hesitant to report and/or prefer to stay anonymous.
From a civil case that she initiated. You can say the same about some of the alleged assailants.
What does she know, right? Julian Assange's sex-crime accusers deserve to be named | Naomi Wolf | The Guardian
Ask Amy Acton how “being named” is helping her.
Her family home has already been swatted after she was doxxed. Imagine how much worse it could be if her name was widely known.
Maybe. But the internet creeps would not have felt obligated to find her. There is a certain knee jerk reaction among internet ■■■■■■ to try to “out” anything that has a whiff of secrecy or anonymity. We will never know. By trying to remain anonymous she gave up “control”. The timing and method of her outing was out her hands. Why give away that power? If what she alleges is true, she has nothing to hide or be ashamed of.
When women are reporting sexual assault against a group of people in an organization, they should be treated as whistler blowers who retain a basic level of anonymity during the initial investigation AND have protection against retaliation once their names are released.
Unfortunately the world doesn’t work like that. Someone has already mentioned Amy Acton as an example. Some horrendous stuff out there on social media, and that’s after a grand jury indictment for things that happened when she was child. (He was never convicted because he fled the state and one has to assume innocent men don’t flee and remain fugitives for the rest of their life, right?)
From the article I posted above:
“Anonymity serves institutions that do not want to prosecute rapists. In the US military, for instance, the shielding of accusers’ identities allows officials to evade responsibility for transparent reporting of assaults – and thus not to prosecute sex crimes systematically. The same is true with universities. My alma mater, Yale, used anonymity to sweep incidents under the carpet for two decades. Charges made anonymously are not taken as seriously as charges brought in public.”
“The convention of anonymity, conversely, lets rape myths flourish. When accusers are identified, it becomes clear that rape can happen to anyone. Stereotypes about how “real” rape victims look and act fall away, and myths about false reporting of rape relative to other crimes can be challenged.”
“Feminists have long argued that rape must be treated like any other crime. But in no other crime are accusers’ identities hidden. Treating rape differently serves only to maintain its mischaracterisation as a “different” kind of crime, loaded with cultural baggage.”
And now you can read some of the comments that people are posting online about Amy Acton. Who was abused by her stepfather as a child, removed from the home, and is being called all sorts of garbage by allegedly respectable people. And you wonder why women want to remain anonymous? Does a respected physician (whether or not she wins her race) want to be “known” for horrible people claiming that she’s a liar, that she “enticed” a grown man (at the age of ten for god’s sake… pedophiles really have active imaginations) and that she “deserved” what happened to her.
So sure, pretend you care about the feminist claim that SA is like any other crime. And now watch a grown woman being taken down by-- what- the pedophile’s union? Do they have dues? Who would want their name getting out there when any disgusting person with a modem feels free to weigh in on the most traumatic event of your life?
The Duke lacrosse team, Brian Banks, the Central Park Five, and the University of Virginia Rolling Stone article about an alleged gang rape at a fraternity are reasons they shouldn’t be known. In this case, lawyers filed suit against the wrong person. Things aren’t always as they seem.
As @hebegebe said, “If she’s proven right in court, there’s plenty of time for the men to face their deserved consequences.”