Sexual Assault: 100 Claims too much? Or One Claim too Little?
When is the ‘O.K.’ Okay to Define a Sexual Assault as a Sexual Assault?
Out of all the crimes, assaults, illegal acts, etc. How many do you think would be considered worth reevaluating? Would you reconsider a case where, let’s say a “criminal”, steals because it was out of desperate need? Or a case where person A was charged with first-degree murder but there was evidence that proved it was self-defense?
Think of one yourself. And put yourself in person A’s shoes. How does it feel? You feel inclined to lean on giving the benefit of the doubt to yourself, don’t you think?
Now look at Larry Lassar’s case, the man who was convicted of sexually assaulting over 150 people. Yes, over 150 people convicted Mr. Lassar of sexually assaulting them. If you don’t believe me, then maybe an official website will help, https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/01/us/nassar-lawyer-shannon-smith/index.html.
When you dig deep into the case, you find that one of Lassar’s defendants, Shannon Smith, finds the big number of convictions to seem too dramatic and overreacting. I mean, wouldn’t you, too?
But it makes sense. Wanting to give the benefit of the doubt to the person who’s paying you to get them off the hook, it makes sense.
It completely makes sense when you try to have sympathy for the man who was not just convicted once, not twice, but more than 100 times for sexually assaulting all of these people. Does it not?
As I fall into deeper information regarding the case, videos that are frankly sad to watch appear and offer a different approach to Mr. Lassar’s defense. These girls on the video, willingly and courageously, describe how awful it was to be sexually taken advantage of, and the loathe they all feel towards his existence. Here is the first victim to testify, Kyle Stephens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkuj0IaeH3s. You can scroll through the many more convictions and come to the conclusion that many of the girls were not only physically, or psychologically a mess, but emotionally as well.
It’s a great process. Although it’s unfortunate to see what these girls were put through, it’s amazing to see how many girls were willing and brave enough to come up and give their testimony on how they were sexually abused by the perpetrator, Larry Lassar.
What bothers and becomes crucially important is how Mr. Lassar’s defendant, Shannon Smith, states that most of these girls, now women, can possibly have no idea whether they were sexually assaulted or not. Smith states, “Some of those girls, to be quite frank, they didn’t even know what to think because they never felt victimized [by sexual abuse.] He was never inappropriate to them. And because of everything they’ve seen, they just feel like they must have been victimized. And I think that’s really unfortunate.”
Let me refer back to when I said it was was a great process. I still believe that it was a great process. But what makes the entire circumstance horrible for these girls having to endure are remarks and comments such as Smith’s.
This ties in back to Kimberle Crenshaw’s article, “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color.” Crenshaw states that women’s willing to even confide in someone about a sexual abuse is unlikely to happen unless many come together because “women have recognized that the political demands of millions speak more powerfully than the pleas of a few isolated voices.” (Page 1)
However, then you have over 100 girls state that they’ve all been sexually abused by the same man, and you have people like Shannon Smith to undermine all of those girls’ courage and braveness as misconceptions.
This is the outrage, the anger, and absurdity we have to endure in today’s sexual abuse claims, the lack of understanding. I understand that people like Shannon Smith, people paid to represent their clients, feel inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to perpetrators, criminals, or people like Larry Lassar. However, it becomes socially wrong to accept statements that disregard over 100 girls’ emotions and courage.
It was horrible for Larry Lassar to commit all those sexual convictions. But I believe it added more flame to the fire with comments and support he received that defended the entire process in his favor.
Whether or not the allegations and convictions were over 100 girls, or simply one girl, a sexual conviction should not be misinterpreted as a misconception or misunderstanding of what it means to be a victim. In fact, a sexual abuse claim should always be encouraged to look at in a one-on-one experience, as if you were experiencing the incident with the person telling you. Never should a girl, or group of girls, or people in general, ever feel that their claims are not valid because someone perceives it as a misconceived allegation.
