When a crime is alleged, different people have very different roles to play. If a student walks into a friends dorm room, a trauma counselors office, or an emergency room and says, I was raped, he or she ought to be given help, advice, and solace. Certain resources should be available to all ostensible victims without any need for proof. Absent glaring red flags, the accuser ought to be believed. Similarly, when a person seeks out a close friend or attorney or priest or therapist to say theyve been falsely accused, they ought to be believed, absent red flags, and supported insofar as they seem to be earnestly trying to prove their innocence. In stark contrast, detectives, prosecutors, campus tribunals, and journalists are charged with searching for the truth. They ought to be attentive, respectful, and sensitive to accusers as they tell their stories–and to be clear that their obligation to think critically about all alleged facts and to verify details doesnt imply that they find the teller unreliable. Fact-checking even credible-sounding claims is just what members of these professions do when serious charges are levied, both to do their jobs ethically and because society benefits from classes of people who labor to establish what is known. theatlantic/politics/archive/2014/12/against-universal-responses-to-rape-allegations/383552/?single_page=true
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 08:17:38 +0000
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