• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Sexual Assault Victims

Should victims report crime, even without proof?

  • Total voters
    19
Fortunately we are seeing change.

Now that we are providing a safer, more supportive environment for women to report sexual harassment and abuse, the less likely they are to feel they must hide it, must wait. If they come forward...others come forward with their same story of abuse from that predator, or others with evidence. Now this is more socially acceptable.

Those waiting for years will be less likely to do so, altho minors may still do so out of fear or coercion. That does not make their claims less valid.
 
spud_meister said:
If the victim of a sexual assault can't provide conclusive evidence of the assault, should they even bother reporting the crime?
Click to expand...

Well, sure, you should always report a crime if you were assaulted, even if you didn't carefully record the and politely ask your attacker for multiple DNA samples. I don't see how that's even debatable.
 
Yes, they should as the police and others have help find the proof.
 
Soopairik said:
Yes, they should as the police and others have help find the proof.
Click to expand...

Of course, you can only do that at the time the crime takes place, not decades later. Whether or not the crime took place, if you don't report it immediately and take the appropriate steps, your claims are going to take an automatic and well-deserved credibility hit.
 
Kal'Stang said:
Simple question to ask. Not so simple to answer.

IMO yes, they should report sexual assault as soon as they can right after the perp leaves them. However this can come at a price. If enough sexual assault victims start reporting the crime immediately (which has a higher chance of successful prosecution) then the perps will simply start killing the person and dispose of the body afterwards. A person may not want to report what happened to them for fear of that. And there are far too many unsolved crimes to rely too much on the justice system.

I'm not saying that no one should report sexual assaults. They most definitely should 100% of the time. But it may start coming up with a price in the future.

That said, what shouldn't happen is for someone to claim that a sexual assault happened 10-20 years in the past. That long in the past there is no way to prove that it actually did happen. But public opinion will assume that it did and respond accordingly regardless if it actually happened or not. And there is plenty of evidence that there are some people that will use that fact against someone simply because they don't like that someone, even though they know no actual sexual assault (or any other crime) happened. If we could trust that people wouldn't do such then this wouldn't matter. Unfortunately there is no way to give that much trust to people. They're simply not worthy of it. Yes, this sucks for actual victims that were too afraid to speak up at the time. And I wish we could weed out the liars vs the truth with 110% accuracy. But, we can't. And as harsh as it sounds, that's life, and no one ever said life was fair.
Click to expand...

I disagree. Sometimes it takes time for a victim to be ready to speak. Especially if what happened happened when they were a child. Rape and molestation aren't ok as long as it didnt happen this week.
 
I have seen this a lot around here lately and it is disturbing. Just because a victim doesn't react the way you think they should or in the time frame you prefer doesn't mean the crime didn't happen, that it was their fault, that they are less credible, that the crime was ok, or that the crime should not be punished. A lot of you should be ashamed for this type of thinking. Victims of rape and molestation don't always do the rational thing. That stuff takes a toll on a person and they can become irrational.

Although to hear alot of the people on here, especially conservatives, if the victim doesn't gather enough evidence while they are being assaulted they will be discredited and called a liar. It is no wonder so many women and children don't. But we gotta protect people who share our politics. 100% they are above the law. **** you people.
 
A report helps narrow down a suspect or tips police off to a new crime area.
 
Kreton said:
I disagree. Sometimes it takes time for a victim to be ready to speak. Especially if what happened happened when they were a child. Rape and molestation aren't ok as long as it didnt happen this week.
Click to expand...

No one is saying otherwise.
 
spud_meister said:
If the victim of a sexual assault can't provide conclusive evidence of the assault, should they even bother reporting the crime?
Click to expand...

Of course they should report it--the sooner the better.
 
Soopairik said:
An immediate report does. The later you do it, the less credible it becomes.
Click to expand...
Failing to see your point, why you quoted me on this? All reports help, some to a lessor degree then others, certain things are just assumed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom