As long as perpitrators of rape are not held accountable, it will continue. There are many in our society who will encourage a victim to be silent. This is not going to change our rape culture-indeed it will will make it escalate. In absence of accountability, abuse continues. The problem is that crimes of sexual violence are the least likely to be reported and have the lowest conviction rate: "on a national average, one rapist in twenty is arrested, one out of thirty is prosecuted, and one in sixty is convicted. During the time period from 1972-1991, forcible rape rate per 100,000 inhabitants increased 88 percent. 78% of rapes are done by people who know the victim. Here is a real show stopper--almost one quarter of convicted rapists are not sentenced to prison but instead released on probation. Rape is a pervasive fact in American life, and its incidence is growing dramatically. We will dontinue to live in a rape culture until society understands and chooses to eradicate the sources of sexual violence in our culture." All of this is quoted from "Transforming A Rape Culture."
We have to stop trying to silence the victims of rape. I really am sorry that your sorority has members who are accussed of being involved in this girl's rape, but I will not go along with stopping her from being heard. One of the things a rape victim has is rage. She has held herself up to such public ridicule and continued to speak out.
Again, I know that she realizes that not every member of Chi Omega are rapists of some kind. You have to care about what this chapter did to your ritual, especially if it was used to harm someone. I don't understand your not caring about that part-even to protect Chi Omega.
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