I have to admit, when I first heard the story back in April 2006 about the alleged rapes by several Duke lacrosse, I thought the guys were probably guilty. How often have we all heard the stories of testosterone-crazed jocks attacking women? How many times have we seen dazed young women stagger out of fraternities, not quite sure what happened to them?
So, yeah, I admit a rush to judgment on my part.
In the weeks after the alleged rapes, both the alleged victim's friends and the alleged perpetrators showed up on national TV, playing their respective parts. Because the friends of the victim always stand up for her, and the alleged perps always, always claim innocence.
As soon as the D. A. didn't release the results of the DNA tests in a timely fashion, it was clear to me that there was no case. DNA testing is based on science, not conjecture. If the DNA found in the alleged victim, did not match the DNA from the alleged perps, that means the alleged perps were not intimately involved with her. It's as simple as that. If a rape happened, someone other than the accused was involved.
Turns out rapes were definitely involved in the Duke lacrosse case, but not of the classic, physical, men against women kind. Instead, the law and the men involved were the ones that were raped.
I'm glad the D. A. was disbarred; it's what he deserved. I'm not sure what should happen to the alleged victim. She lied about a crime. She was not completely innocent in all this.
Rape is a very serious crime which is why so many people reacted in the way that they did when they heard about the alleged crime. The real crime turned out to be against the lacrosse players. I wonder if this incident has made any of them more sensitive towards the issue of rape? I'd like to think so.
